hello all! i have been a pediatric nurse in the hospital for 2 and 1/2 years now and i today i just accepted a job as a school nurse! does anyone have any advice for me? any websites that would be helpful for me to review or any books that would help me? besides a couple of clinicals in nursing school, i have never been in the school setting as a nurse! i am very excited about this new opportunity! any and all advice is appreciated!! thank you! 0 Likes
noreenl Specializes in school RN, CNA Instructor, M/S. Jul 7, 2011 schoolhealthservicesny.com is a godsend! 0 Likes
bergren Jul 8, 2011 The National Association of School Nurses site is http://www.nasn.orgLots of information and free online continuing education. Click on the state affiliates link and find out if your state has a summer school nurse orientation. 0 Likes
KrystinaRN Jul 9, 2011 Congrats!! I am starting this year as a new school nurse too.I agree with noreenl about schoolhealthservicesny.com. I have been scouting out the best resources and this website has some really great sample care plans. Click on the "SN Tool Kit" tab, that's where I have found the most helpful information. Having been a peds nurse for 2+ years, it sounds like you have a great background and probably tons of relevant knowledge already. Study up on diabetes, anaphylaxis, and the types of things you will likely need to respond to as a school nurse, such as head trauma, fractures, etc. Also, since you're new to school nursing, try to learn about the legal boundaries and scope of practice of a school nurse in your state (for example, I think in some states, school nurses can administer OTC meds without doc orders, in others you must have an order- even for a cough drop). That is something I need to learn more about as well. Good luck with everything! 0 Likes
noreenl Specializes in school RN, CNA Instructor, M/S. Jul 11, 2011 You r 100% right Krystina! welcome to allnurses/ school nurses to you KrystinaRN and rmglib!! 0 Likes
rmgilb Jul 23, 2011 thank you all so much! i plan on researching like crazy over the next month so i can be as prepared as possible! i am so excited, but still nervous at the same time! and congrats to you KrystinaRN! i hope we both love school nursing! :) 0 Likes
lperkrn, MSN, RN Specializes in School RN, Ambulatory, Public Health. Has 6 years experience. Aug 3, 2011 Thanks for this thread! I also just got my first full-time job as a school nurse. 0 Likes
Guest717236 Aug 4, 2011 Just for reference, thought I would post as an example what RI requiresfor courses for School Nurse certification (state certification)http://www.ric.edu/healthPhysicalEducation/schoolnurseteachercertification.php 0 Likes
mariyahsmommy Aug 4, 2011 Hi girls! I also just accepted a job as a school nurse in a parochial high school. I have limited peds experience. But i am very excited for this opportunity. I have an 11 yr old so am happy I will be working while she is in school and off when she is off. No more nights or weekends! 0 Likes
ChesapeakeRN Specializes in Urgent Care, Family Health, Long term Ca. Aug 17, 2011 Congrats Ladies!!!! I also just started my new job as a school nurse... I have the whole spectrum! 1st - 12th grade!! Its a private school. I was wondering if anyone has any info on freebies that I can get... since we aren't a part of the public school system I have to dig up things on my own. I'm loving the school so far... a little frustrated because the previous nurse was very unorganized. Any insight or advice is very much wanted/appreciated!!:smackingf 0 Likes
ford0605 Aug 20, 2011 Hi ChesapeakeRN,I am also starting out brand new in the school nurse role, and I also have K-12 kids split between two schools. I'm actually back working in the school system that I graduated from, and that is sort of an advantage I think. We're public though. Everyone has been really great so far. Monday will start my first full week (the kids came back this past Tuesday and I was just working half days because I was finishing up my last days at my old job), so I'm ready to hit the ground running! I'm finding there was some organization in some places but not really a lot of information or "clues" left behind for me to take an idea and say "oh, this would be helpful, maybe I can tweak it and make it work for me". How is everyone doing with immunizations? I'm ok with handling my kindergarten files, but I'm wondering if I need to check every grade to make sure nothing was missed? I'm going to get everyone caught up on their paper health file first to make sure I don't have to keep any kids out of school, and then I think I'll take the time to input them in the computer at my convenience. Think this is a good attack plan? Looking forward to swapping ideas!!Jessika 0 Likes
