PA Senate Bill 802

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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?

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.
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.

what about this statement?

just because i call myself a giraffe doesn't mean i am one. you are insinuating you are an apn. truly shameful.

and i didn't spend five years working for an msn and two post msn apn national certifications to not challenge this.

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What about this statement?

Just because I call myself a giraffe doesn't mean I am one. You are insinuating you are an APN. Truly shameful.

And I didn't spend five years working for an MSN and two post MSN APN national certifications to not challenge this.

I did not call myself an "APN". I do not concern myself with degree(s) other people hold. You have no knowledge of my experience or of what degree(s) I hold or do not hold. What you infer is up to you.

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Specializes in med surg, geriatrics, peds.

In Alabama, an LPN can be a School Nurse as long as there is an RN who supervises. The ratio is 1 RN to 5 LPN.

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Specializes in school nursing.
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.

Because School Nursing is a specialty just as ICU is. Are they very differenet, well of course they are! However, the assumption is that school nurses are just band-aid pushers. We are so much more than that! We have students in school with trachs and vents, complicated chronic diseases, head injuries, etc. In such an independent setting, I think it is important that we know our stuff well - certification says we do!

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

I believe school nursing itself can be considered a specialty all its own, just like ICU, L and D, ER, and so on. The difference is that most school nurses - and this is a very general statement - need a certification beyond simply a BSN. In most cases a state CSN is required. Granted this is not the rule everywhere. Many places, if they even bother to hire a school nurse rely on RNs, LPNs or health aides.

I think it's important to have a nurse trained and certified to make judgements and create plans to mesh health issues and academics.

We are not necessarily APNs, most of us porbably don't have a MSN degree. To be honest i think the placement of a true APN such as a NP or CNS would be frivilous in a school health office setting. It would turn the already stretched thin office into a community clinic more so than it already is.

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

Just to clear this up, I am a Nurse in a school district and I attend the IEP's. I attend the Chapter 504's, I speak with the teachers in my building, I do my students hts/wts/hearing screening/vision screening. I administer daily medication including my students with diabetes. I also administer all prn meds including epi-pens. I also create IHP. I schedule for the school dentist and doctor to complete grade approp medical exams.

I am the one who does everything you listed above. Just because some Nurses have a CSN degree makes them more capable to do hts/wts? Really? What about doctor offices where the nursing/medical assistants do the same screenings? You can't tell me that a CSN is more qualified in performing these tasks.

Also the salary I mentioned is a fact. Uncertified School Nurses (LPN, RN)

starting salary in a school averages $12/hr for 10 months. No pay for summer. CSN are paid as little as 3 times more than that all year long including summers.

All Teacher's salaries are public record and since the CSN has that extra degree, so are theirs.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Isn't CSN a certificate? Is it statewide or national?

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

mine is a certificate at the state level - though there is a national cert too

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I have to decide whether I'm gonna stick around in school nursing but that is exactly what I need to get - a certificate.

The state grants you a temporary certificate and you have 5 years to get a real one.

Here's the program I'm currently looking into for my certificate.

http://www.cce.csus.edu/catalog/course_group_detail.asp?group_number=392&group_version=1

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Peds, Med/Surg Office Practice.
Because School Nursing is a specialty just as ICU is. Are they very differenet, well of course they are! However, the assumption is that school nurses are just band-aid pushers. We are so much more than that! We have students in school with trachs and vents, complicated chronic diseases, head injuries, etc. In such an independent setting, I think it is important that we know our stuff well - certification says we do!

(As I have said I work in a school, I am a Nurse I am Non-Certified School Nurse.) We (Nurses) know are stuff because we are licensed as a Nurse in our state. We are trained professionals. A CSN certificate doesn't make you more qualified to care for a patient or student that has a chronic health concern/diagnosis. We follow doctor's orders for care and treatments that we provide. We follow our state regulations as well as our school district policies. A CSN also does the same thing. They have no more independence than a non-certified school nurse (LPN/RN) does. Yes there are IEP/IHP/Chapter 15 meetings that a Nurse attends. But the Principal has final sign off on ALL meetings and plans, NOT a CSN.

A CSN certificate was first mandated in schools for caring for student's health and performing screenings as well as TEACHING in the classroom. They actually were teaching health class. Now in school nursing there is not 1 CSN that walks in a classroom and teaches 7 periods a day. The CSN is in the Nurse's office performing student care.

Lets be truthful on actually what is needed in our schools for health care. By some statements made in this blog it is led to believe that a CSN is a specialty. If that is the case the next time I go to the hospital/doctor's office should I start requesting a CSN to handle my care???? I didn't think so.

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I think you are right in most of your post School Nurse PA.

I'm not certified yet and I have 5 years to do it and I'm doing all the stuff anyway because my state has given me a temporary credential.

Now I'm new and not all that familiar with the history of school nursing but I'm fairly confident it has to do with the teaching component in a classroom. Plus, at least here, we are paid on a teacher's scale and most have to join the teacher's union. (I've been lucky in my little conservative town and they waived the union part).

:nurse:

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Specializes in School Nursing.
Lets be truthful on actually what is needed in our schools for health care. By some statements made in this blog it is led to believe that a CSN is a specialty. If that is the case the next time I go to the hospital/doctor's office should I start requesting a CSN to handle my care???? I didn't think so.

My nursing school did not teach anything about lice. It did not teach anything about splinting fractures or other first-responder type duties. Immunization schedules were only given a cursory overview in Peds. Procedures for vision and audiometric screenings were not touched on. I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

If you define a nusing specialty as one that required a specialized set of knowledge and skills, beyond the basic nursing core knowledge, then School Nursing certainly qualifies! Although I don't understand why you would request a Certified School Nurse when you go to the hospital or doctor's office...school nurses are trained for the school setting? I don't get your point with that analogy. It seems maybe you are equating specialty with higher acuity? Specialized just means different, not sicker.

I am not certified, and in Texas I am not required to be. In fact, we have some districts who hire only BSN RNs (like mine), some that hire any RN, some that hire RNs and LVNs, and some with no school nurses at all. I think certification is a great thing, and that any nurse should have the goal to become certified in their specialty of choice. I don't think it should necessarily be required, because it is not required for most specialties at the entry level (ER, ICU, Peds, L&D, etc). But we all should be continually improving our practice and our knowledge base, and certification is one logical way to do that.

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