KariRNBSN

I agree with the idea of working either as per-diem or in my county it would be as a substitute nurse, which we never have enough of. This would be helpful for a few different reasons, one of them being that you may be required to get your finger prints completed to work with school aged children, I had to do that when I substituted even after only being away for a short time. Another good thing about substituting is that you could see what age group you liked working with. Elementary and Secondary are vastly different, and I personally prefer the older student because they can tell me what's wrong and usually do not vomit on the floor but there is always an exception to that rule as well! Once you are on the substitute list, you can then easily correspond with your nurse manager and go from there to find more out about certification. I wonder if they are referring to the school nurse certification? I thought about getting certified myself. None of the school nurses in my county have it, but there are talks about it so perhaps that's what the certification is in your county as well. Best of luck to you :)

Old Wives Tales, Or Is It More? I write this as a cat lady and RN wanting to get down to the nitty-gritty of toxoplasmosis and find out what it is. We've all heard the adage that changing cat litter while pregnant is dangerous, but is it? I've heard about this illness, but I had no idea where I heard it from or why it only seems connected with cat litter and pregnancy. I am a mom of two but didn't have any felines when I was pregnant. My household currently consists of a hardy mixture of humans and pets, with the majority being cats. No one in my family has ever received the toxoplasmosis diagnosis, nor have we acquired illnesses from our cats, except when we rescued a couple of kittens, and all came down with ringworm, but that's a story for another day. I'm not too fond of it when people talk badly about cats, but I also have to think scientifically and report accurate findings. So here goes! Toxoplasmosis Since I had only heard about toxoplasmosis associated with cats and pregnancy, I found it surprising that this is considered a food-borne illness-causing parasite, which does not only involve cats. According to the CDC, toxoplasmosis is a parasite thought to be the leading cause of food-borne death. The CDC's data shows that toxoplasmosis spreads through undercooked, contaminated meat and shellfish. It can come from drinking unpasteurized goat's milk or even contaminated utensils. Animal-to-human transmission is a genuine concern. This infection is most prevalent in outdoor cats. According to familydoctor.org, toxoplasmosis is rarely tested, even in cats. In healthy cats and humans, the illness only lasts a few weeks and is usually minor, and some people experience no symptoms. Signs & Symptoms This parasite can and does make people sick, most notably, the immunocompromised. familydoctor.org listed the common symptoms as fatigue, headaches, body aches, fever, and swollen lymph nodes, although most people will have no symptoms. Pregnancy The concern with pregnancy is that pregnancy itself puts strain on the body. There may be no cause for concern, but the baby could be affected in some cases. Miscarriage, preterm birth, and stillbirth can occur in some cases of a toxoplasmosis infection. Prevention is the safest option to avoid complications from a parasite before it even begins. Housecats generally do not carry the parasite because they would have cleared it if they were strictly inside cats. If a cat is partially outside, the best bet is to have someone else clean the litter. If no one else can clean the waste, wearing gloves and washing your hands after removing gloves is necessary. Infected Before Conceiving? What should you do if you become infected with toxoplasmosis and want to conceive? The March of Dimes recommends that conception be deferred for six months to prevent any ill effects of infection. Of course, not everyone heeds this advice, but if you have been sick and diagnosed with toxoplasmosis, your body will need time to recover before growing new life. Deferring is, of course, only applicable if you are even aware of the toxoplasmosis infection. My Final Thoughts From what I now understand about toxoplasmosis, I prefer avoiding it. I am a proponent of thorough handwashing after toileting myself or a litterbox. It's just good hygiene. If I were to become pregnant with all of my housecats at this point in life, I wouldn't do much to change how I clean litter because I follow good hygiene practices. If I were to acquire new cats or if I had outside cats, then yes, I would a hundred percent have someone else handle that job, with no hesitation. I advise both patients and friends the same: to use good judgment and always wash your hands! References/Resources Parasites - Toxoplasmosis (Toxoplasma infection): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Toxoplasmosis: familydoctor.org: American Academy of Family Physicians Toxoplasmosis: March of Dimes

That makes sense, you would get a good variety I'm sure. In my school system, we always are low on nurse substitutes.

Hello Schoolnurselpn, In Maryland, you can become an LPN after 1 year in a nursing program, and you can go an additional year to become an RN. That's what I did, and most nurses went on to complete the RN program because it was difficult to get accepted into a program and so it was easier to go through it from the start if possible. There are also nursing BSN, RN degrees that can be taken through 4-year colleges. I personally finished my associate's degree in nursing and passed RN licensure, but then years later I completed my BSN through an online college. Best of luck to you ? KariRNBSN

That's so fascinating. Where I live we only have LPN's and RN's. Our schools are on the smaller side, so maybe that is why we don't have too many roles in the school. Thank you so much for sharing, I love to learn about how things are done in different areas.

What is a School Nurse? A school nurse is a licensed LPN, LVN, or RN who works in the K-12 school setting, although regulations vary from state to state. A school nurse usually works a regular school day schedule, which correlates with a teacher's daily schedule. School nurses work with students and staff and must understand triage basics. The school nurse is usually the only medical person in the school building and is the person who is responsible for making medical decisions. What Does the School Nurse Do All Day Long? I have worked in a secondary school, which is grades 8th through 12th, for a combination of nine years. From my experience as a school registered nurse with a BSN, my job was a mystery to almost everyone. Even my school principal was in the dark regarding my medical duties. My initial internship, we'll call it, left me with more questions than answers. The start of the school year was hectic because there were a lot of new enrollees, and I had to make a chart for each new student. The perk was the schedule was the hours. I worked from 7:15 am until 2:45 pm. My job was to ensure that all students either had documentation that they had received all of their state-required immunizations or exemption documentation. If a student had missed an immunization and still managed to attend, we could lose state funding. The day-to-day flow varied. Usually, there would be the same frequent fliers that would grace my door. I would distribute medication, bandages and check temperatures. Contacting parents was a daily activity when students became sick during the school day, or if they came to school sick, they would still have to go home to keep illness away from the student population. Parent calls were tough sometimes. Not all parents were concerned for their children. Some were unwilling to pick up their sick kids. Thankfully, most parents were good and grateful to have someone take care of their kids, but it's essential to know that working in a school is not all positive. Covid-19 challenged nurses regardless of the work environment. I often had to contact parents when there was an exposure, and that phone call was never well received. Happily, those rules and regulations for Covid-19 are in the past. Hopefully, they will remain there too. I did very well on my required observations because my school administrators didn't know what I did all day. A school nurse has a misunderstood job. No one else in the school understands what you do because it is not a traditional educational career. School nursing can be lonely, but that appealed to my introverted nature. What About the Salary? School nursing is not on the higher end of the nursing salary spectrum. According to Salary.com, the current median school nurse salary is $54,264. I did not make anywhere near that range as a school nurse. In contrast, a staff nurse's median salary is $88,815, also found at Salary.com. Working as a school nurse was a good fit for my family and me for years, but it was not without sacrifices. There are conveniences in exchange for a lesser wage, such as a better schedule without required nights or weekends and lengthy breaks. These are individual choices that will have to be weighed by each nurse. Final Thoughts School nursing is something I do not regret because it gave me a family-friendly job. I learned how to work with children and administration, a skill I'm glad to have in my pocket. I'm not too fond of adrenaline-filled days, which was a reprieve from more traditional nursing roles. I encourage other nurses to go into the field because it is rewarding. School nurses should demand wages more in line with that of school teachers. Fair pay is significant, and so is job satisfaction. Of course, all jobs have their sticking points; that was mine. The biggest problem was feeling like an outsider while being a school staff member and being paid on a scale lower than a licensed individual would typically earn. In the county I worked for, nurses were in the same category as staff without specialized licensing, which was discouraging. Dear future school nurses, you are an essential member of the school staff, beloved by many. You matter and make school possible for many of the students you serve. It is your job if you take the assignment to be the best school nurse you can be, and hopefully, you will gain more traction regarding wages and your visibility in the school itself. References/Resources School Nurse Salary in the United States: Salary.com (2023, March 28) Staff Nurse - RN - Occupational Health Salary in the United States: Salary.com (2023, March 28)