kayakqueen

Could you possibly elaborate on how detailed these orders are and the paperwork involved? Did you already have a school physician in place (we don't have one)? And a standing order for Vaseline?? I don't think of that as "medicine". Thanks for your feedback!

Do you have standing orders at your school/district? If so, what are they for? We have been discussing this for common items such as hydrocortisone, Tums, ibuprofen, etc. but I'd love to get some feedback from others first.

I'm back today. Anyone else seeing a lot of back-to-schoolitis??

I can see why you'd say that! I thought the same thing myself before I finally enrolled. I'm in TN. The only downside I found during the entire program is that you don't get letter grades, but rather pass/fail, or basically a 3.0 GPA on the trascript. This could pose a problem if you are planning to pursue a PhD or perhaps with a post-Master's NP program. I'm not planning to do either, so I didn't worry about it. I didn't have any problem with my degree being recognized. I presented my diploma and transcripts to my district supervisor and got put on the masters pay scale immediately. WGU is fully accredited by the CCNE so I wouldn't anticipate problems with it at any workplace. Again, in order to get the program done so fast and for so little money, I put my nose to the grindstone!! I cannot emphasize that enough. I did away with FB and other hobbies/time wasters, left things undone around the home that I never had before, and so forth. But I managed to accomplish it with 2 kids, a husband, and a full time school nurse job. Hope that helps!

Western Governors University is an all online program. It has flat rate semester tuition ($3250 for MSN programs) where you have the opportunity to get as much done as you wish and progress at your own rate, rather than only taking 6-10 hrs at a time. For me, this made it a much more affordable option. I basically busted a$$ and got 2/3 of the course work done in one semester and saved the rest, including a capstone project, for the second semester (my program was 36 hrs). Now, I'm not saying this approach would work for everyone but to have a masters in hand for such a small investment was quite the motivator for me. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have. Here's the link: Online Health Master's Degree | Health Care Degree Online | WGU College of Health Online

This applies to me as well. I got my MSN-Education last year. I got it through WGU, all online, for just over $7K. The pay raise I got will make up for that in just two years. I felt like it was worth it due to that factor, as well as it opening up doors otherwise if I decide to get out of school nursing at some point. Not that I think that's very likely, but I figure it's always good to have options!

Good assessment ideas in some previous posts....if everything checks out well and they're still complaining, I usually start with "boredom therapy" which is laying quiet on the cot in my office. Amazingly enough, that's usually just the cure. If after 10-15 they truly seem uncomfortable and/or have additional symptoms, I call a parent and they will likely go home. Mind you, I work with a K-8 crowd. That might not work with high schoolers.

I go by Nurse First Name or often in the case of the little ones, Miss Nurse First Name As long as it includes my name, though, I don't really care. I hated it when I first took the job and I was just "the nurse"!

We never had a school nurse. Teachers or the front office staff handled everything. Towards the the end of my middle school years, a girl younger than me got diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Her mom came in to care for her everyday. That kind of stuff would never fly these days! And thankfully so....job security

Good luck! I went through WGU for my MSN and really enjoyed the program and their flexibility.

This year I started wearing scrub dresses (UA has them in cute colors) and a lab coat. I still look like a nurse and retain the ease of washing scrubs, yet I feel like look far more professional for the school setting. I've gotten loads of compliments from both faculty and students alike. Just a thought....

I have worked in home health and am currently a school nurse. Like the others, I agree that your like or dislike of any field of nursing is based on your personality/preferences as much as anything. I found home health to be draining in a number of ways. Constantly crossing the earth to try to hunt down patients who should be "homebound" but really weren't, going in to disgusting homes and being afraid to even sit down, seeing patient problems in the home and calling the doctor for an easy solution only to have them refuse to prescribe any changes without an office/ER visit anyway. This, however, was only my experience. As a positive, the money was good. I find school nursing to be far more autonomous and pleasurable on a daily basis. I love the younger age group and the predictable hours. And of course, the summer/breaks off just can't be beat. However, as you likely know, you shouldn't be a school nurse for the pay! Hope that's helpful and good luck on your decision!

I wear scrubs Mon-Thurs and jeans with a school shirt on Fridays. I tried out "business wear" one year but it just seemed to really confuse the students. Plus, the new students had a hard time identifying me as the nurse, even when I was sitting in the Nurse's Office!! So I've went back to scrubs and plan to stay that way. I do, however, intend to freshen up my scrub lineup with some scrub dresses (they come in pretty colors now) with some funky tights and Danskos this fall. We'll see how that goes

Hi, I'm a full time school nurse taking my first camp nursing assignment this summer. It's a 3 week stint in July in the mountains of North Carolina. My two kiddos are going with me for free and I'm still getting paid! Plus I love nothing more than the mountains. Needless to say, I'm so excited for this new experience!!

I really like and trust most all of the teachers/staff I work with. For this reason, I keep a small stash of the very basics (ibuprofen, Tylenol, Tums) for their use. I have never once had anyone abuse the privilege or make a continual habit out of using those items. Everyone seems very grateful for a quick antidote to a throbbing headache or other ailment. They occasionally ask for other things as well (Benadryl, cough syrup, etc) and I just simply remind them that I don't keep it on hand. They are fully aware of what they are taking and I certainly don't "administer" it. I just simply hand them the bottle of whatever they request so they can take a couple and move on. In this sense I am functioning much more like a co-worker than a nurse and I don't mind at all.