Not a real nurse huh?

Specialties School

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I have to get something off of my chest. I'm a new grad and my only nursing job has been as a school nurse. I started as a sub for the county and will be moving into a full time position. I could not be happier. When I was in school I had all of these great clinical experiences in the OR, ER, ICU and med surg and I loved my mother baby and PEDS rotations the best. I had every intention of pursuing a hospital career of some sort (I had already worked in acute care at a large hospital as a CNA for a couple of years in med surg). As soon as I started subbing as a school nurse something just clicked. It all fell into place. I cannot imagine doing anything else. All the other options I had considered just dissolved. I love caring for children who may not have someone to care for them. I am so sick of hearing comments about this not being as important as hospital nursing. Well I guarantee 80% of the nursing population has a school aged child and where would they be without us? I don't think people realize what school nurses actually do. True it's a lot of bandaids and ice packs and tummy aches. But its more than that. Kids need a little TLC and some of the children I care for have SEVERE medical problems. People don't realize that we do alot of acute care with these kids. Tube feedings, breathing treatments, med pass, and we deal with emergencies. I don't think alot of community members grasp how ill alot of these children that their "healthy" children go to school with. I believe we are the most important kinds of advocates in caring for defenseless children. I also can't remember a time when a hospital nurse was responsible for the care of almost 1,000 human beings BY THEMSELVES! Sorry just a little rant there :) and thank you to those I know who do understand and appreciate my choice in a career.

School nurses rock! My friend's mom was a school nurse back when I was in middle school and she was my inspiration!

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thank you for posting this topic! being a school nurse hadn't even crossed my mind when considering where i want to work when i graduate, but this option makes SO much sense to me with my love of kids! i am excited to look into this path now!

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Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

As a mom of a special needs little girl, I give you big hugs and a THANK YOU through my tears. My little girl can have tummy aches. She is globally delayed and has difficulty telling people what is wrong with her. You know her tummy hurts, and you console her until I can get there. Sometimes she comes to you because school is difficult for her and she has tearful meltdowns. You take her in the the office, give her a blanket, put her on the bed, and give her a teddy bear to hold. I know you talk to her even though you know she will not answer you. My daughter comes home with pictures you colored together. You calmed her down so she could go back to her class smiling.

You have no idea how much that means to me. It takes someone very caring to be a school nurse. God Bless you.

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Jeesh? A real nurse? What's that supposed to mean? We are all nurses, whether we are school nurses, home health nurses, hospital nurses, retired nurses, former nurses, nurse managers. We need good school nurses, too, because perhaps you may be the only caring adult in that child's life! Our children are our future and we need someone to take care of our children. And perhaps you can even inspire children to become nurses! While I appreciate our hospital nurses and paid my dues, they aren't all that. Hopefully our patients are only in the hospital for a few days and are discharged. We need nurses that take care of people year-round, not just short term in the hospital.

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I wish I could afford to be a school nurse........I would in a heartbeat !!! Way too underpaid

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I'm always on the phone with my children's school nurse, 1 with asthma and the other with ADHD. School nurses make me able to go to work and not be a stressed out nurse

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Did someone actually say that to you? I always wanted to work with kids and thought it be great to work at a school! I have been nervous about it though,YOU are the only person EVERYONE relies on!I would love to see future posts about your experience! :)

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Specializes in Med-surge, hospice, LTC, tele, rehab.

If you are happy in your job, and it sounds like you are, who cares if people think you're not a real nurse? What do they know anyway? You work a lot better hours than a lot of other nurses so that's a good thing for you. If you're in a job you love, treasure it and don't let anybody else ruin it for you.

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Specializes in Trauma Wannabe.

You worked sooooooooo hard in nursing school to do what truly makes you happy and fulfilled. And you seem to have passion from what you have written. You are so lucky! And to think of the positive influence you will make upon those impressionable minds! How awesome! Good on you! You make Nightingale, Maslow AND Erikson proud (and me too:) )

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OP just know that if you were a "real hospital nurse" you would still get comments like these.Don't you know that Med-surg nurses are glorified waitresses and only ICU RN's are REAL nurses? Or that ICU RNs are anal bullies that can't assess without a million dollars worth of equipment and three aides attached to the patient? Why they wouldn't last half a shift on a floor with 6 patients to take care of and they could never do the work of an ER nurse, now those are the real nurses. But wait: those wacky ER RN's just spend their shifts being mean and denying people pain medication, if they ever found themselves on a floor or up in the ICU they would end up huddled in a corner crying.....you get the idea. Insecure people will always find a way to make themselves feel better at the expense of others, don't give them another thought. I personally envy you for finding your niche so early in your career! I am still looking for mine.
Yes. Sums it up. This thread has gotten a lot of positive replies, and it's refreshing.
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Different does not = "unreal."

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I went to school with someone who failed out of nursing school the first quarter. I ran into her when she reapplied and she made a comment about not needing to do well in school since she was just going to be a "school nurse anyway". I had to let her know that with that attitude I hoped none of my kids ended up in a school she worked for. School nurses rock! ;)

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