Question for all you school nurse out there

[purchaseamy]

Hi everyone! Here's my question: I am currently working in pediatric home care, but my ultimate goal is to become a classroom nurse for a special education program. Would additional courses (such as ABA therapy training, etc) be helpful in achieving this goal? If so, what types course would you recommend?

Also, school nurse jobs seem hard to come by. Any advice on where to look?

[schooldistrictnurse]

It sounds like you would be interested in a 1:1 job, perhaps with a ventilator-dependent child or something similar. I would contact school districts in your area, probably the Pupil Services Director, and see what their needs are. In our district, a student with these needs doesn't attend in our district, but goes to a neighboring district where they are equipped to handle students with severe handicaps. So you may be considering a very limited field. Good Luck!

[bergren]

Some school districts only use agencies for these positions. If that is the case, call the local school districts and ask what agency they use.

[Heidi the nurse, BSN, RN]

My initial exposure to school nursing was as a 1:1 for a child with muscular dystrophy. I worked for a home health agency and attended school with him.

Others might know differently, but in my current position, the district hires LPN's for the children needing 1:1 care, usually through an agency. Financially it doesn't make sense for a district to hire an RN for a 1:1. There are so many other things that we can do that to have us in one room with one child every day wouldn't be a good use of their resources. You might be able to find a single school that has a large population of special needs or medically fragile students, but you would still have the responsibility for the whole student population.