CampNurse10

When did you start working in the public schools? I'm on the same retirement, mtrs, and the grid I'm looking at is definitely not as good as whatever you have! The best deal I'm looking at is to stay for 30 years. Vested after 10 years, but you get peanuts if you walk away around that 10 year mark.

I'm in MA and the earliest age they offer to start collecting is 60. The percentage is way lower though. You're better off waiting just 2-3 more years. The only way to get the 80% is 30 years of service and 65 or older. The percentage goes down from there if you retire younger/earlier.

Hi, I work in a public school that has (what I think) is a good/decent pension. For me to get the best benefit out of it, I should stay a total of 30 years (I'd be 63 when I retire with a decent pension). For those of you in public schools that have pensions- are you planning to stay and get comfy and eventually retire? Is school nursing just an interim thing you're doing while you have school aged children? What is everyone's long term career outlook? Nursing-wise, it's a great job. Stable, steady income, good benefits/pension, great schedule, etc. However I'm not sure about 26 more years! It just seems soooo long to stay in the same realm of nursing.

Hi all, This is going to be the year that I plan to take the certification exam. I was trying to find a copy of the study book from the NASN website and it seems they don't sell it anymore. For all who took the exam recently, what was the most helpful resources you used to study? Where did you get them from? What did you think of the exam? Any help would be appreciated!

Hi Everyone, What does your camp do for medication administration? Has anyone ever had "camp meds" pre package their campers medications (or the parents are supposed to do it)? It looks like a great service and I would hope my camp moves in that direction. Just curious on other nurses input. Thanks!

I totally agree with your responses. The rationale, as I understand it, is that the kids and the other staff can't be trusted. The kids can say "yes I understand" when you tell them not to run or jump etc, but they're kids, they'll do it anyway. And the staff can't be relied upon because there's a ton of kids running around how can they promise to keep an eye on specific kids daily. And say one of these kids with a cast or sprain or whatever goes outside and falls or further injures themselves, the parents will be quick to come marching in saying it's our fault, the doctor wrote a letter saying they were restricted and we should have made sure the kids were safe. I feel like it's over the top though. I'm sure these kids are playing whatever they like after school, but we're creating bubbles around them in school.

Hi, I'm curious what you all do with students who have broken or "sprained" limbs, and have activity restrictions per the md? What we do: no gym or any other specials that involve physical exercise (students go to another special like art or music), no recess (which translates to lunch and recess in the nurses office). Sometimes we may have 2-5 kids eating their lunches and having recess here, which is about 40-45 minutes total (we have a large office so the space can accommodate that). I think this is overkill. The kids should be able to go out to recess and get fresh air, and be told to be careful, but because everyone is so afraid of getting sued, we keep them inside to keep them safe from any potential injuries. A friend of mine has kids in schools where there isn't even a nurse on duty (private), so the kids with colorful casts are out at recess along with everyone else. So I am wondering, what do other schools do?

THanks for the info. I emailed 2 places, one for New Zealand and one for UK. Have you done any of this type of work? I would be travelling with a husband and school age child so school placement for 1 year would be a priority for us. Thanks again.

Hi, Anyone have experience doing any international travel nursing? If so please share, thinking about looking into 1 year contracts.

What state are you in? Did I read this correctly, you're the only nurse for 1000 students?

I know, this is what I struggle with, how could I ever part from having all this vacation time??

Anyone ever think about getting their NP? I'm thinking of doing it online, 1 class at a time, may cost 20-30k. Where I work, the cap for school nurses is same as teachers, so far as I can tell, I think I could possibly be making 75-85k in next 5 + years, plus we have a pension. I'm not sure if it would be financially worth it, but I wonder if I'll like it more than what I'm doing now. I like school nursing, but not sure if I want to do this until retirement. Any thoughts? Anyone else look into this?

Wednesday dismissal at 1200, Thurs/Fri off. Paid (salary)

I would have called with 1 visit of c/o blurry vision (even if the kid was a freq flyer). I have learned that it's better to just make the call then to not make the call and something like this happens.

This is my 2nd year in and I'm struggling with the same. I feel lonely and isolated (although I'm not the only nurse, its so busy, no socialization whatsoever, so different from the hospital). The parents drive me nuts. Everything seems like its a dire emergency, like we are an urgent care clinic (and yes sometimes there are REAL emergencies!). The amount of allergies, asthma, behaviors, medications, etc etc is astounding. I love working with the kiddos but I'm not sure I can stay in this job until retirement, but struggle with that bc the benefits are the best in the nursing world (I think).