PA Senate Bill 802

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Specializes in CEN, CPEN, RN-BC.

Just got an email from the PSNA. Apparently, there is a senate bill out there that is seeking to eliminate the requirement that all school nurses, both public and private, must be certified in school nursing. I don't really have an opinion on that matter, but maybe someday I will when I have children. An interesting thing that I've noticed is that many schools that I've looked into for a certification in school nursing no longer offer the program due to low enrollment. Do any of you have an opinion on whether or not schools require their nurses to be certified?

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In the school county I live in, any BSN can be a school nurse w/o a certificate. They need to take the county insulin, medication and AED classes which is a day long. But the county next to us, anyone off the street can be a "Health Technician" meaning they have school nurses roles (administer medication with a nurse overseeing them from the district office) without the official title. I know there has been a lot of issues r/t to the health tech and a few lawsuits. I am in a tri state area and the next state over (15 minutes away), they require a certificate.

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Specializes in Med surg, LTC, Administration.
In the school county I live in, any BSN can be a school nurse w/o a certificate. They need to take the county insulin, medication and AED classes which is a day long. But the county next to us, anyone off the street can be a "Health Technician" meaning they have school nurses roles (administer medication with a nurse overseeing them from the district office) without the official title. I know there has been a lot of issues r/t to the health tech and a few lawsuits. I am in a tri state area and the next state over (15 minutes away), they require a certificate.

I think using, "Health Techs" is dangerous and would much rather they stop this practice. These are our children, and they should be cared for by professional nurses only. I don't know how they get away with this, but folks should be up in arms. Come on people...

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

School nurses in my state need a teaching license and a nursing license. I think that's overkill.

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School nurses in my state need a teaching license and a nursing license. I think that's overkill.

Especially for what they are likely to pay that person.

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No offend but why does a school nurse require an extra certificate, they have an associate or BSN, teach preventative techniques etc, its not like they work in an ICU. Again don't mean to offend anyone, just a question.

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Specializes in Tele,PACU,ICU,CCU,ER,Home Care.

Schools definitely need an RN, not a health tech. I presently work 1 day a week for a local school district, it certainly is not a cake job. I rarely give out bandaids. The other day I called 911 for a child with an allergic reaction, straight cathed a student, sent 2 staff members to the ER, saw 40 kids, sent 10 home, spoke with numerous parents about their children's medical conditions...and ran out for a fire drill. In addition to these duties, the full-time nurse also does health programs, coordinates with physician's offices, health screenings, significant parent education,flu shots, and the list goes on and on. At my school there are also students with significant medical issues, (CP, trachs, vents) requiring their own nurse, that I am also responsible for. It can get pretty crazy. It is becoming the norm that the nurses office at school is functioning as a clinic. It's like a mini ER somedays.

It is a requirement, in my district, that nurses have at least their BSN w/certification, most have their MSN.

The pay is not great, support from administration is poor. Their job is education, not medical, so that part can be difficult.

I do feel the school nurse role is definitely underrated and underpaid for the amount of responsibility that is involved, which continues to increase, hence the need for recognition as a "speciality" and the certification requirement.

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I just saw this article on CNN.com about School Nurses. They highlight that accidents and deaths happened without a School Nurse on site. Very interesting!

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/04/04/school.nurse.shortage.parenting/index.html?hpt=Sbin

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Specializes in Tele,PACU,ICU,CCU,ER,Home Care.

Thank you, great article.:)

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Peds, Med/Surg Office Practice.

I work in a school district as a Nurse. I am not a Certified School Nurse. I want to give a little history on the Certification for Certified School Nurses(CSN). Many years ago this bill was passed when schools wanted children taught in the classroom by Nurses for health education. That is why they needed a Certification. Now there are Health Education teachers who give that same instruction.

In my county alone uncertified school nurses are considered a Health Office Nurse, Health Office Assistant, Health room techs. All those titles are titles held by Nurses who have completed a Nursing program and took their test receiving their Pa State Nurses License. The difference between a Certified school Nurse and any of the titles listed above is about $60,000 a year. Thats it. I do the same job as the CSN. There are no difference in my role or job than hers. She gets paid on a teachers salary due to her Certification, they are in the teachers union and get paid the entire year. Health Office Nurses get paid as 10 month employees.

In my opinion I would love to see this bill passed, so districts could save more money and put that into teaching our children. They are cutting teachers jobs left and right and children are having bigger class sizes. The system needs to be redone.

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I find this posted reply suspect as it is nearly word for word what was published in various newspaper articles that detail this ridiculous bill (even right down to the salary comment). School nurses and health room assistants are NOT the same. School nurses are responsible for the state mandated screenings, writing Individualized Health Plans, attending IEP and 504 meetings, teaching staff the proper response to various emergencies to name a few. This is all in addition to giving first aid, inhalers, insulin, epipens, etc. Health room assistants are there for administering first aid. School nurses have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing, 24 post-baccalaureate credits and 100 hrs of clinical in a school setting. We operate solely and independently. Would you like a geriatric nurse responding to a pediatric emergency? How about a maternity nurse working in PICU? We are an advanced practice specialty. We should not be viewed as anything less. Period.

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I'm a school nurse in CA. We have to apply for a temporary teaching credential and then have 5 years to attend a university program for Credentialed School Nurses.

We are paid on par with the teachers.

This thread should be moved to the School Nursing Forum -might get more answers for you. I'll ask a mod.

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