nurseroff

Although there are days of frustration with the children, mostly due to being tired, no break, the difficulties learning to turn nursing language into the language of education. The most frustrating thing to me is the lack of compensation for the amount of work that school nurses do. A new teacher with no experience will make $20,000.00 more a year than a school nurse with years of experience. We are not mandated, but no one wants to be in a building without a nurse. We are not protected by the same laws that teachers are in New York. The job that we do is often more like an administation job than even a teacher position and many districts pay their nurses less than their secretaries or custodians. When I hear teachers, custodians, and secretaries complaining about their pay and their work load I often would like to scream. I am often asked if I could make more money elsewhere for less work so why am I a school nurse? The main reason is that I love what I do, I am good at it and it gives me great satisfaction to know that I make a difference in peoples lives every day.