NYnursejo

LOL, I had forgotten all about NBCSN. I am currently working on my BSN so I know that I am not eligible for that one quite yet. Thanks for reminding me about this because that is definately an option in the future.

Hello all, many of you know that both the school nurse certification and community health nurse cert were retired some years ago thru ANCC. I have over twelve years experience in mostly an outpatient community health setting... clinic(peds/adults), homecare, and now the school setting. I am confused about which route to take, I am very much interested in peds nursing but have never cared for the acutely ill infant or child ,only chronic, outpatient, well-baby and triage type care. Athough I am working as a school nurse for several years now, I still consider myself a community health nurse more so than a peds nurse. I think my lack of peds experience in a hospital setting makes me feel like I am not a 100% peds nurse. What are your thoughts??

High school 9-12th 1800+ students 2 RN's (thank goodness) 10-40/ day mostly sports related injuries,asthma, diabetes, stomach aches, cramps, sore thoats.

A little of both...depends on student needs, sometimes they need a lil TLC and they are good, others need a more stern tude then their good.

In Our district we have a small pass in triplecate form 1 copy for h/o, 1 for parent, 1 for teacher, so the teacher has to write in her own words why she is sending the student, along with name, date...and we write a small blurb on the bottom half of our assessmnent

I will call Md and tell them I have a med order without the med d/t parent non-compliance and DOCUMENT. If I have a student with a documented history of asthma and he/she has had one too many visits to the health office and parent yes's u to death or doesnt follow thru, I will speak to the MD about considering an asthma action plan on their next visit and explaning the importance of it to them, I will even fax the med sheet to initiate the process, ultimately if falls on the parent, we have to advocate as much as we can for these kids.

I tend to call the PMD and tell them I received their med order but parent has been non-compliant with dropping off med...and of DOCUMENT. If I don't have orders and I have a documented history from the MD of asthma and that child has made one to many visits to the health office, I will call MD and ask them to discuss an asthma action plan with parent on next visit, I even fax them blank Med sheets to initiate the process...We have to advocate for these kids as much as we can.

I agree with the above posters, Most of our teachers are donating their childrens clothes once they have outgrown it, All teachers send a notice at the start of the school year about a spare set of clothing, most of them are really good about reminding on that 1st parent-teacher meeting. I label all clothes loaned from our office with a sharpie , and ask parent to wash and return for another student who may need next time around. If parent needs to come pick up the student I ask for 2 sets of clothes, one for the current need and one for the next. And of course you parents that are very appreciative and work with you and those that you never see that set of clothes again... when supplies are running low the parents get the hint after having to leave work for these petty reasons, and MIRACULESSLY extra clothes comes in the backpack

Thank you all very much, I was actually considering agency work too, which I am leary about since I have been out of the hospital for 6 years now. I did home health up until the beginning of this year and stopped because they wouldnt let me split my weekends so when my weekend came up, I would be doing a 12 day stretch between the school and the homecare, I guess my best bet is finding someone that will let me split weekends so I won't burn out again. I actually have also been looking into babysitting as well, but whatever I do on the side needs to at least cover the daycare fee ($600) monthly...Thank u again:nurse:

This is the start of my 2nd year in school nursing, starting salary was about 54K (not bad) but a decrease in about 10k yearly for me. It was going ok, but my husband had been out of work since Febuary just found a new job this week (yea) but also a lower salary! Now we have to dig out of debt, we've been thru our savings and now have the added expense of daycare because my mom WAS our babysitter prior to the job loss. I am so fustrated because I have been looking for part-time/per diem work since the summer but everyone is looking at me like...when are you available? I already work 9am-4pm have 2 children to tend to, so I can only do saturdays, maybe 6-9 pm during the week. Iv'e tried peds offices (needs more hours from me) and if I go back to the hospital I have to do something I love (post-partum) which of course are hard to come by. Any suggestions, I am seriously fearing losing our home. ps, My mom was in an accident and now has PT daily for the next few months, which is why we are paying daycare.

In our school if the child has issues with vomiting and it is not r/t to any type of health condition and it has caused a few absences we ask the parent get an MD note stating Child has "weak stomach" or something to that affect. I had a little girl that could not see or smell strawberries because it was a guarantee she would vomit, as long as they are afebrile, GI assessment is unremarkable and there is no rash, your covered if they don't go home.

Wow that is pretty much a day in the life of a school nurse in a nut shell...Thank you.

I agree with all the previous posters, You can definately scout out surrounding schools but I think that this is the nature of the beast with this specialty, Your autonomous, lonely, overworked and go unrecognized. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy what I am doing but sometimes feel bored, and bitter when Im at the office late, I just look foward to those long holiday weeks and our summers, you really would'nt have that opportunity with your children if you worked anywhere else...but I do understand when your child is sick you wanna be there for them. We also have slim pickings on our sub list.

Hey there, I work at a pre-k and k school of over 800 students with an NP, we are both full-time. She does run out of the office often because she is the NP for the entire district, she writes up scripts for children who need services (ot,pt, speech) when students don't have their own PMD, may do a physical here and there, she also has an immunization clinic for uninsured students who need vaccs to attend school, takes all paper work from new employees makes sure they are cleared to work medically all this and so much more of course, we also have a medical officer that she will collaborate with when needed. It is pretty cool to have her as a resource and mentor, we work side by side with all those screenings.