School Nurse Job Offer Help!

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Hello Everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful day! I am in need of some advice from any nurses with experience in school nursing.

I am currently a nurse on a busy ortho floor in Los Angeles and was offered a School Nurse job through LAUSD.

I interviewed because I want to leave the bedside after just two years. It is not a fit for me.

I love the work but feel like my fit is working in the form of public health outside of the hospital. Plus I am a mommy to five little munchkins who say they never see me and want me to be around more often and I love working with kids.

My question to you is, how in the world do I figure out the salary table?

Is the pay cut really almost fifty percent?

I have a BSN, MS, and BS in different fields with two years of experience on the floor and experience from a past career. Also, my understanding is I have to pay almost 20,000 for the school nurse credential on top of taking a 50 percent pay cut. Is this really the case?

I want to make this switch for my children and myself, but I'm not sure that the salary is liveable in Los Angeles.

Anyone with experience, I would greatly appreciate your time. Have a wonderful day!!

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Specializes in ICU, ER, Home Health, Corrections, School Nurse.

I guess this will take a Los Angeles expert to answer. I work in New Mexico, and I have never heard of paying for any kind of school nurse credentialing. I did take a pretty substantial pay cut, which was TOTALLY worth it, and I wish I had done it sooner. Good luck!

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Thank you "nursy", RN for replying!!! Yes I was told I had five years to obtain and pay for the credential or I will be let go after five years but I guess I will have to see what the pay will be in the end ?‍♀️!

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Specializes in School Nursing.

In many states (like mine, not CA) you need to get your Certification in School Nursing in order to be on a Professional "teacher" salary payscale in a public school. Oftentimes Step 1 (year 1) is 25-45k depending on area. Uncertified nurses are typically making the Support Staff Hourly, which can often be a few dollars above minimum wage.

If you think it could be lifelong, though, out look can change. In the right district, I know school nurses after 10 year scan make 100k (with Masters +45 additional graduate credits)

There are great threads in this forum regarding salaries across the country if you scroll in the last couple pages, they've recently been bumped to the top of the forum. I don't have kids, but many of the comments regarding weekends/holidays/evenings with kids are HUGE benefit which many consider greater than any salary could be.

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Specializes in school/military/OR/home health.

I am on the East coast so I can't speak to LA, but I can say I had to pay for my own credentialing/certificate. It was through one of our local universities. I also had to pay to take the Praxis because we are on a teacher's contract.

Than about a year later they made the 1300 dollar course free online and discontinued the Praxis for nurses requirement. I may have said some bad words when they told me.

But yeah, the cost and the pay cut are worth it to me. I spend summers with my kids instead of them sitting in childcare or camps they don't care for.

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I'm wondering if you have to pay upfront to obtain your certification but the school will reimburse you?

The pay cut is also worth it to me. I love spending Christmas break and summers at home with my kids!

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

I am in MO and I didn't take a pay cut from the hospital I was at. The pay scale in my district is great, i'll be making more a year for school year 20/21 than I would have if I stayed full time at the hospital i was at for 5 more years!. Granted I'm sure I could make MORE if I moved to another hospital, but to have a better quality of life and work/life balance definitely outweighs pay at this point in my life.

The good pay in my district is just an added bonus!

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Specializes in School Nursing.

My state also requires you to obtain your National Certification in School Nursing. We had 3 years to obtain is as well. After you sat for the exam and passed, your salary increased significantly. You just had to suffer through those first 3 years on the lower pay scale.

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I'm in CA (not a school nurse) & yes, the school nurse salaries in my area are about 50-60% what hospital nurses make. You may want to look at the school nurse credential programs at CSU. CSU Fresno offers an online program.

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Thank you guys so much for answering!!! I appreciate your input so much! I did sign a contract for the school district and plan on keeping my registry job for the holidays and some weekends!! I will look into Fresno for the certification ???

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Specializes in kids.

Hang out here with us, we are loads of fun!!!

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I’m actually looking into doing home health rather than registry as a side job for the times I am off... I am super unhappy working bedside. Do any of you guys work second jobs?

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