Psych to School Nurse?

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Hello everyone.

I graduated nursing school in 2015. One of the specialties that stood out to me in high school was school nursing. It is one of the reasons I even went to nursing school. After I graduated in NYC the job market wasn't that promising. My first job was doing home visits with an agency and 1:1 private duty nurse with some preschoolers. Last year I was offered an adult inpatient psych position at a local hospital. Fast forward.. I am still at that job now a little over a year. My dilemma is that I was offered a position to work as a DOHMH School nurse ( my dream jobbb??). I feel as if I'm not built for the acute care setting and I usually go home feeling mentally and physically drained ( 12 hour shifts). My issue now is I'm not sure if I should follow my dream since I was a teen and take the school nurse position/ pay cut or continue to work in psych. I am also a little worried because I never had any medsurg experience? We have emergencies on the psych unit and patients who have comorbidities as well. I just wanted to know if you think a psych nurse would have what it takes to be a school nurse ?

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After I graduated a few years back I worked and floated between a cardiac floor, medsurg, and 2 psych units for a about a year and then worked the psych unit for a couple years before starting school nursing a year ago. I think a psych nurse can absolutely be a school nurse, especially if it's your dream. Psych comes in handy in school nursing. If it's always been your dream, I think you'll be happy with the switch.

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

What is a DOHMH school nurse and what grade level would you be working with?

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Hello - thought I'd chime in!

I'm in a similar boat. I also graduated in 2015 and have since been a psych nurse. This week is my first week in school nursing and I'm at an elementary school.

I will admit I was wary of having the autonomy because I felt inexperienced (even though it's something I absolutely looked forward to at the same time). I think what's important is having some experience with the age group you'll be dealing with. I would've preferred high school but I'm doing fine at the elementary level. As far as assessment skills go, I think you'll be surprised about what you remember from nursing school since it wasn't so long ago. I also purchased a school nurse book and reviewed my pediatric nursing book for extra measure when I knew I'd have children with specific disabilities. I keep these books in my office as well. While you will likely be the only medical personnel at school, there are likely other nurses in the district you can contact for guidance.

In truth, a lot of it is administrative (immunizations, getting orders for meds at school, etc). But even though I've had 2 fractures and a 911 emergency this week, I didn't feel ill-equipped to handle it. You use your judgment with the information you have on when to call 911 and when to have the parent pick up the child or send them back to class. And if you're ever wrong, it's ok, it happens - just like in any other facet of nursing.

Finally, there is a lot of psych involved in school nursing. Your background will help you set boundaries (for example, I've had an interaction with a father with borderline personality disorder) and talk with the kids to calm them down, talk through problems, recognize untreated mental illness, and you'll know how to guide them if therapy/meds are needed. I find it also helps me stay calm in chaos.

Since this is your dream job, I say go for it and try it out! The first year is a lot of learning but you'll be fine :)

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Thank you so much for the insight everyone ! Yea I think I would be really happy because I've also been a sub in a charter school for preschool- middle school. And as I mentioned before I did 1:1 with preschoolers. The psych unit I work in now is ages 18-50. I usually do very well with the teenagers when other nurses are wary! Overall I just miss the school environment. My preference would probably be elementary school kids.

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I use more psych nursing and basic first aid than anything else

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