Previous Experience to be School Nurse?

[thefuture88]

Do you have to have previous nursing experience or can you go straight into it as a new grad? What are your recommendations?

[pistolchick]

I'm sure these more seasoned veterans will reply with much more information than I could provide, but I'd be hesitant as a new grad to start in school nursing. For me, the most challenging part of school nursing is a lack of co-workers or supervisors (at least supervisors that are also medical professionals). A large part of being a new nurse is collaborating with seasoned nurses and colleagues.

For what it's worth, I started my nursing career in an assisted living facility - 90% of my job was passing meds. That job didn't utilize many nursing skills, and after a few months I was desperate to get into a place where I could perform procedures and become comfortable with a lot more skills than the job offered. School nursing, depending on how large the school and the student population, may provide some of these opportunities - but not as many as, say, a medical-surgical floor, where you'll REALLY get some skills under your belt. Just something to think about. I wish you the best of luck.

[AdobeRN]

I would recommend some nursing experience before getting into school nursing....you just don't realize what you don't know until you start working in the real world - clinical experiences were nothing like the real thing - at least mine weren't. I was hired on a pedi floor right after finishing my RN degree and applied to be a sub in our district at the same time. I would sub 1-2 times a month in the beginning just to see if I liked it and to have my foot in the door. I worked 2 years on a med/surg pedi floor - just that little bit of experience helped me tremendously.

[OldDude]

I only speak on the elementary level but you can liken becoming a school nurse with no experience to starting to work at a pediatric emergency room, with no experience, as the only nurse on staff, with no aides - and no doctor; just you, alone, in the ER, left to assess and decide what to do with every kid that comes through the door.

[thefuture88]

That makes sense. It seems like it probably won't be a good idea to start in that position right away.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

it can be done to be hired fresh out of the box -but it makes for a very rough transition. You are the sole medical authority in the building. You will get asked about and questioned about everything by the people that think they are the medical authorities in the building. The kids will test you and you will quickly realize that the job is so much more than running a nice quiet clinic where you pass out bandaids and ice packs all day long. You will have children with chronic conditions, staff with diseases and practically everything else you can imagine walking through your door. For some reason the nurse's office becomes the dumping point for the darndest things: lost earring, broken shoe, missing snack, wet pants, crying for no reason, behavioral outbursts, sleeping in class - it's all somehow your responsibility.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

I was a new grad who went straight into school nursing - but as a sub first. And as a sub that was lucky enough to sub in a school nurse's office that had another nurse to work with (covering ~1350 students) that showed me the ropes.

[thefuture88]

That's a great idea! I didn't think about subbing while getting other experience as well to see what I liked doing more.

[qstorm]

I went in to school nursing without prior RN experience. I work with 2 other nurses who are great mentors. Although I only worked side by side with them for a week, I was able to catch on quick. I'm responsible for 5 schools within the district (3 elementary, 1 middle school, 1 alternative high school). Experience definitely would have helped but I think that if you trust your judgement/assessments it can be done.

[shsnurse]

Experience will definitely help you as a school nurse. You are ALONE so there is no preceptor or charge nurse to constantly nag with questions. There are many experiences at the bedside (hospital and LTC) that are helping me now as a school nurse. Even with experience it took me a full school year to get my "rhythm". So in my opinion do a year or two in the hospital to gain skills.

[djh123]

Having been in Special Forces would probably be a plus :^)

[glsgirl1985]

Others may not agree with me on this but it's my opinion that if you have your nursing degree and you are a mother or father that's much more experience than most have. I am a nurse but being the mom to 4 children who are now 17, 15, 13 & 9 has taught me so much more about children & childhood illness & injury than nursing school & nursing experience has. Obviously, a pediatric nurse would be ideal for the position but as parent I feel well qualified to apply for a position as a school nurse. Best of luck whatever you decide! í ½í¸Š