MANY Questions for School Nurses!! Please, please answer :)

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Hi, i'm about to enter the nursing program this January and I am so excited and anxious about it! I am determined to do well and pass, and pass the NCLEX to get my RN. I know you basically need to work at a hospital for a year or two before "outside" places will hire you, and I'm VERY interested in school nursing. The pay doesn't sound too great, but sounds manageable and the hours appear good. Are any of you school nurses in this forum?

Here are my questions if you don't mind answering :) ....

What city and state do you work in?

What kind of school is it (elementary, middle, high, etc)?

How much did you start out with, and what is your current salary?

What kind of benefits do you have (time off, vacation, health, etc)?

What are your working hours at the school?

What kind of degree do you need as a school nurse (LPN, RN, BSN, etc..)?

How much experience did you have before becoming a school nurse?

Was this job hard to find, are school nurse jobs typically difficult to come by?

What is a typical day like as a school nurse?

Are there a lot of meetings to attend to, and after school things that would keep you late?

How often do you encounter BIG emergencies with kids?

If you have any other helpful info, I would appreciate it :).

Thank you SO much!!!

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hope someone answers soon, i would like to know that 2. by the way, what school will you be attending. oops forgot to say CONGRATULATIONS!!:yeah::up: what r u doing 2 celebrate? i'm still waiting 2 hear from wccd, they said it will be the end of Oct. so tired of waiting.:yawn:

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hope someone answers soon, i would like to know that 2. by the way, what school will you be attending. oops forgot to say CONGRATULATIONS!!:yeah::up: what r u doing 2 celebrate? i'm still waiting 2 hear from wccd, they said it will be the end of Oct. so tired of waiting.:yawn:

I hope someone answers too! I posted this in the School Nurse forum, but no one has answered for a few days :( I'm anxious to know some things. Thanks for the congrats!!!! I don't know what I'm doing to celebrate, I think In might just get myself a new blackberry curve, lol! I'm going to be attending cctc (central carolina tech).

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Specializes in ER, ICU cath lab, remote med.

http://www.scasn.com/index.html

Click here to check out the South Carolina Association of School Nurses. Click on the "Officers" tab. There are email addresses here for the officers. I bet they'd be willing to answer a lot of your questions.

Good Luck!

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I'm in my 9th year and will be retiring soon. School Nursing is a great job.

1. I'm in suburban Massachusetts

2. Elementary school with 450 K-5 students

3. I started at about 48K/Year and will be retiring at 68K/Year. However, my district pays on the teachers scale and the nurses are members of the teachers union. We are very fortunate. Many school nurses are hired thru their town's dept of public health and paid peanuts.

4. We work school hours so not on the weekend, holidays vacation times etc. I do get liberal sick time and health insurance benefits.

5. In my town we need the minimum of a BSN and to have or be working toward a MSN or it's equivalent. We also have to be DOE certified as an educator.

6..I worked for many years in med-surg and I am the mother of 4 grown children which was an enormous help.

7. A good school nurse job is hard to find because there are so few of them compared to the number of teaching positions. In my experience, they are often filled from within. That means the job is offered first to nurses who are actively substituting in the system.

8. There is no such thing as a typical day. I deal with abrasions, vomitting, medications, anaphylaxis, health education, Special Ed meetings, emotional breakdowns, malingerers etc.

9. On Mondays I ususally don't get out until 5. The other days it is usually before 4.

10. I have dealt with Anaphylaxis, Run aways, fractures, seizures, acute asthma. Ingeneral, however, it's not a terribly stressful job.

Hope this helps.

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Hi Sl1011,

Running out for a bit, but saw your plea for information!

You have the right idea in getting some personal responses from fellow members. However, there are resources for things like questions, school searches, employment searches etc., and they are a good start.

I hope this helps, and an early GOOD LUCK to you!

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Hi Sl1011,

Running out for a bit, but saw your plea for information!

You have the right idea in getting some personal responses from fellow members. However, here are a couple resources for things like questions, school searches, employment searches etc. These are by no means the only resources available, but they are a good start.

I hope this helps, and an early GOOD LUCK to you!

www.nurseconnect.com/Community/Groups.aspx

www.nursezone.com

Thanks for the extra resources, and for responding to my "plea" Lol!! I hope some school nurses will see this post as well.

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hope someone answers soon, i would like to know that 2. by the way, what school will you be attending. oops forgot to say CONGRATULATIONS!!:yeah::up: what r u doing 2 celebrate? i'm still waiting 2 hear from wccd, they said it will be the end of Oct. so tired of waiting.:yawn:

I ended up emailing many school nurses in my city by going the the school district website. I've had 3 reply so far today, so you should try that too :)

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