New grad as school nurse

[Nursenewbie924]

Hi,

I am a new grad RN but I'm older (44), have worked as a health clerk for 5 years at my local school district with the main nurse in a moderate to severe special education school site (think kids with pervasive needs and meds, toileting, constant intake IEPs, 504s, annual IEPs, meds and training staff on care and conditions).

I have an interview next week as a school nurse. Given my background as a health clerk, plus my history in surgery and ICU for acute care as a monitor tech and an aide, do you think it's too much for a new grad to take on?

One of my questions is how they'll support me getting my feet under me and learning the ropes as the RN (I'd share the district with three other nurses, one of whom I know). 

Also, does this "stall" my career if I ever want to pursue high acuity bedside nursing (PICU, NICU, etc)? 

[k1p1ssk, BSN, RN]

Howdy! Unfortunately this sub gets abandoned during the Summer since most of us are on vacation so I am sorry you haven't received any responses!

It sounds like you do have a good foundation for becoming a school nurse as a new grad. My biggest concerns for you would be your ability to work autonomously right out of the gate, your assessment skills, and ability to prioritize administrative tasks in conjunction with seeing students. In most schools, you are the only health professional - most of us don't have health clerks or aides to assist in the administrative tasks or help with the little things...

In this new district, do all of the nurses have 1 school/site they are responsible for are the yearly tasks etc. split between you all (I.e. one nurse does screenings for every school, one handles health forms, one does 504s/care coordination)? If the latter, it might be an easier transition, as there is only one role to learn, whereas if you are building based and doing it all, it will be a steep learning curve. 

As far as whether or not you will potentially stagnate as a result of taking a school nurse position, I think that will come down to whether or not the "nursing shortage" really exists and how willing an inpatient job down the line will be willing to train a non-new grad without much inpatient experience. In general, the consensus on this site is to get that inpatient experience first, then jump to school nursing as it is  typically harder - most nurses and nursing management don't see us as "real" nurses. It's sad, but its true.