Years ago when I was hired as a school nurse I only had one year of nursing experience and NO training other than on policies in a boardroom. My first day of school they didn't have my office ready so I had to sit in the main office beside a filing cabinet and take care of a few student files and treat a couple kids but basically didn't have much to do that day and was afraid I was going to get into trouble for not doing enough! (It did pick up.)Anyway, you'll learn as you go and it's doable as long as you have someone to call with questions that will crop up. You'll most likely have lots of kids coming in that complain of headaches, stomachaches, sprains, etc. that you'll have to determine if they can stay in school or if you need to call someone to pick them up and any special procedures like giving meds, blood glucose checks etc. You will learn who the frequent complainers are and the things to do that just make a kid feel better so they can stay like ice and bandaids. If there is a true emergency you just have to keep them stable until 911 or their parent arrives. All the other things like screenings, training other staff, care plans, medicaid billing, etc you have to fit in there but you can take your time learning it. School nursing is a lot more laid back and a different pace than you're probably used to. You have to re-route your brain that you are in an educational setting and not a medical setting. In an ideal world you would get a couple weeks training just to get more confident but it will still take a good year or two to feel like you've got it down and after that you just know who to call to figure out the rest. It is a very independent type of nursing which I love and you may too once you're used to it.
