My interview went very well! It was with 2 women, one the director of health care services and I'm not sure on the other's title, but they are both nurses. Both very high energy and positive. They were excited about my experience and my plans to become certified as a school nurse. They offered me a choice of positions. Either a building nurse or a float, which is kind of like a permanent sub- I would go whereever the need is that day and if (miraculously) all schools are covered, then I could go to a school to help out.
There are 22 schools in the district with over 30 nurses. They currently have 5 certified school nurses that each oversee a few buildings. If one of their nurses are out, then they sub in that building. They said they never leave a building without a nurse so if they have to, they leave their duties at the district office to go to a building. They also emphasized that they never want their employees to miss out on their own kids' events. ie: school concerts during the day, take your mom to school day, ect and they will cover a building for a couple hours to make sure we can attend those events. Overall, it sounds like an amazing work environment.
The benefits package is nice, good insurance at a good price. It's a bit of a pay cut, BUT I will spend almost no money in gas (now I drive 44 miles roundtrip) and my child care costs will go down. Also, when I start the certification for school nurse, they said they will act as my preceptors for my internship portion (not sure if that's the right term) and move me onto the certified pay scale at that point instead of waiting until I finish the program. That's a 5 figure pay raise. It's definitely the right career move.
I would like to try the float position. I've been a building nurse for 4 years, this could be a nice change. My babysitter is on board with the schedule, so we shall see how it goes!
I emailed the medical director yesterday and I want to hear from her before I give notice to my current school.
UPDATE- I have given my notice at my current school. I start at the new school on February 1. They just called to ask if I could be full time at one of the junior highs instead of floating because they really need someone there. I told them it would be fine. Right now I work with 5th/6th and this will be 6/7/8 grades.
I'm getting pretty stoked. The supervisors are so enthusiastic!
Eleven011
1,250 Posts
Sounds awesome! Certainly never be bored moving from school to school. Congrats on the new adventure!!