New to the field!

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Hello all! I'm new to the school nursing field and lets just say I'm extremely glad I took this position :) anywho, I'm still a "new" nurse, just over a year in fact, with my experience being in Critical Care. Any advice for the school nursing part would be greatly appreciated! I've enjoyed reading several of the posts already!

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Specializes in IMC, school nursing.

Welcome! This is THE place to learn the ropes. LOTS of experience and good advice. I also came from a critical care background. A few things I learned, start with the basics, this job is mostly triage, which is foreign to m/s mindset. Concussions are huge, you never knew kids heads were so fragile. Spend a lot of time perusing these threads. Have fun and enjoy this great group of nurses on here.

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Specializes in School Nurse.

Welcome, you have actually come to the best resource available for school nurses. The nurses of this board have a wealth of knowledge and are more than willing to answer any question you have. Look through previous threads, they are educational and entertaining. Good Luck!

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Specializes in School Nurse. Having conversations with littles..

So glad you have joined us in this crazy boat called School Nursing!

IMHO- I would encourage you to learn to get comfortable in the school setting (school politics is like no other, be very careful about who you tell what to, sometimes school people ARE THE WORST);

be buddies with the secretaries, janitors, and cooks.

Also, get to know everything there is to know about Immunizations requirements in your state,

and the most dreaded of all...head lice,

and don't be afraid to make a Child Abuse/Neglect Hotline call (memorize the number).

Embrace the fact: It is nearly impossible to get everything done- every.single.day. Go home at the end of the day and know that you did the best you could and everything you could for whatever came your way on any given day.

Come and hang out with us when it gets too crazy and you have to "get away". Wear pink on Wednesdays...red is very acceptable too.

AND MOST OF ALL>>>>>>>never, ever forget---summertime and lonnnnng Christmas, Easter, Spring, etc. BREAKS are amazing!! :yes:

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Thanks for the welcome guys! We're a small charter school with only grades 3-9 at the moment. So far, I haven't had any issues with anyone here, thank goodness! But I'll definitely keep my bearings about me though. I'm still getting things organized and trying to make sure I'm staying on top of policies, both state and district. I feel like I'm forgetting to do things though. This is such a different pace than my hospital position and I constantly feel like I'm not doing ENOUGH. Is that typical?

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Specializes in School Nurse. Having conversations with littles..

Absolutely, that is typical. It is kind of like comparing apples and bananas when getting accustomed to the pace of school as opposed to the acute setting. But, keep your guard up, there will be days...and they will happen...when all heck breaks loose :)

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Welcome! We wear pink on Wednesdays! Ask us anything! ONE of us will know the answer, and if we do not, we can at least give you a resource on where to find your info.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

WELCOME !! This is a great group of school nurse's and I check in mostly every day for great SN information and a few laughs too !! :yes:

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

Yea, what they said...welcome.

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Specializes in Home Health,Dialysis, MDS, School Nurse.

Welcome

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Welcome. Avoid any topics about mermaids.

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Specializes in Peds, School Nurse, clinical instructor.

Welcome! This group has a wealth of information we are willing to share! :)

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