Frannie419

Hi! I've been a school nurse in Illinois for about 2 years interested in becoming a school nurse consultant for the State Board of Education. Can anyone who is a current/former consultant give insight onto the schedule and day-to-day activities? What are the pros/cons? Is it a good way to climb the clinical ladder? Appreciate any insight!

Are there any RNs currently employed on a college campus here? I've heard of these positions existing but can never find any postings! Surely there are nurses working at the student clinics. I'm particularly interested in applying to any Chicagoland campuses, if anyone can give advice on how they found this position? Please and thank you!

Wow! You are amazing!! Thank you so so much! I'm in Illinois, my school does have extra EpiPens for use and every year we do send out what's called Student Medical Information forms. The problem is, not every one turns it in or includes things I should know ?. I also sent out a mass email at the beginning of the year to please bring anything your child may need for their health (epipens, inhalers, meds, etc). For those 2 kids, all I have is word of mouth from parents, but I'm not sure if that's enough info to administer epinephrine

I am new to school nursing, just started in August. The last nurse left everything in a mess and there was not even a list of students with medical alerts, I had to make one myself using whatever she had left. I have had 2 instances where a child comes to me saying they think they are having an allergic reaction and what they are allergic to/when they ate it, but I have no documentation anywhere that they even have an allergy, let alone an EpiPen. In one of those 2 cases, the student said her throat "felt funny" but no other symptoms, mom said she has a severe allergy but to not do anything since she only had a little bit, so that's what I did. In the other case, the student ate candy that "may contain peanuts" and again, mom said not to call 911 as she was on her way to give him benadryl as his allergies were very mild and he was showing no alerting symptoms other than a headache. So my questions are: Can I still give Epi even if I don't have a confirmed diagnoses for the allergy? Is it ever acceptable to question if a student is actually having a reaction? Or should I always just administer Epi when in doubt? Do I always have to listen to the parents to not call 911 if I think I should?

That's amazing! That's how I see it, though we make less than bedside we are also working way less. If I averaged out the hourly pay to include the entire year, I'd be making way more than bedside. But the time off is way more worth it, it's also nice to not be so stressed all the time ?

I left labor and delivery after only 7 months as a new grad for outpatient GI. Hated that too and now I am a school nurse. I initially took a pay cut but felt it was worth it for my mental health, my salary was 55k. However I found out one of the other school nurses who had even less experience than I did was making 63k and I immediately asked my principal why that was and if I could get the same. Luckily he agreed and now I am making 67k including my Summer job. It will increase again once I have my PEL. I was making 76k as a night shift nurse so I don't see a huge difference in pay now. My mental health is so much better, I get to see all my friends and family