melon

You have 10 weeks of orientation?!!!!! And take care of one WHOLE patient?!!!!! What a dream world! I was thrown to the wolves when I first started. I had such a struggle getting into the real world that I just ended up quitting nursing altogether (which is kinda unfortunate). I really wish that I had a nurse mentor. In nursing school, I looked after two patients max. And that was in my fourth and final year. Then I got a job and on the first day of real work, I had to take care of TWELVE patients (acute care surgery) and had about five days of orientation. I was so slow and so scared! I live in Canada. I heard that in the US the patient load is a lot less. Is this true?

Thank you for your reply Judy. I discovered today that they kinda scrapped the school nurse program. ie. There isin't a school nurse that is at the public schools all the time. They just visit there once in a while. Instead, the nurses work from the public health clinic and do a variety of things; school nursing is only a tiny aspect of what the public health nurses do. So, I geuss in Canada there's no such thing as a school nurse. No wonder I couldn't find anything on school nurse. :crying2: I wish I was living in the States.

I am interested in becoming a school nurse. I have a BSN and RN and live in Canada. Where do I start? I looked on the web and didn't find a single site about school nursing in Canada. Are there standards, certification, and school nurse associations like there are in the US? How do Canadian school nurses become school nurses? What kind of education do I need to practice school nursing? Where can I find a list of schools that specifically offer masters degree in school nursing? Are those masters programs actually nurse practitioner programs? Do you think Canada will recogize my master degree if I do it in the US? Cam I practice school nursing with just a BSN? Is it a waste of time and money to take a certificate school nurse course if Canada doesn't require any certification? What kind of work experience do I need? I have one year of acute care experience in orthopaedics (TOTALLY unrelated). Will work experience in a youth clinic be helpful? How can I get my foot in the door at this point in my education and career?