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I am new to the school nursing field. I have spent most of my 5 years of experience in the Intensive Care Unit. I was ready for a huge change, and huge I got. I absolutely LOVE school nursing. I am in an inner city school with great hours and great students, but it's so lonely. I am in an office at the end of the hallway. I have state testing paperwork and boxes in my office so the door must remain shut. I see students and the occasional teacher but that is it. I am not included in the school meetings or aware of activities going on in school. I was not even notified of a lockdown at the school, I have no walkie talkie like the rest of the teachers/no one called me to inform me (!). I have tried to reach out to the principle about setting up a wellness week or getting more involved and it's like pulling teeth. I love my job and everything about it, I just wish it wasn't such a lonely job. Surely I am not the only one that feels this way. ������
I'm told come June when I can look forward to 3 long months off that it'll be worth it. The thought of summer vacation where I can spend lots of time with my two little girls :)
This is what I thought! I wasted my whole summer cooking, cleaning, etc. Make sure you make time to enjoy it! Plus, I was too broke by the end of the summer to DO anything fun.
My first 2 years, I took the deferred pay out of my check for summers. But I began to notice that in August and Sept my deferred pay was not enough to cover bills. So I stopped having them take it out, more monthly income, and what I did to make up for summer was set aside my income tax refund. It comes around end of March- April and it was much easier to save it that close to summer. I had to budget how much my bills-food and gas were going to cost for those months.
I was hired to work as a school nurse at one of the largest, best-known High Schools in the country after they let the Certified School Nurse go. I was not certified. My director wisely insisted that I be included in all- faculty meetings, inservices, etc. They originally wanted my title to be Health Aide, but she ( and I) insisted that I am a Registered Nurse and should be acknowledged as such. All of this made a huge difference. I was able to develop working relationships with the teachers and support staff, as well as make friends. My role expanded in the school, as did my ability to contribute. The nurse has insights that are unique and valuable to the educational team. Your principal may not be aware of all you can offer. Maybe you can do some research and show him documentation of the expanded role of school nurses in today's educational world. Another thing I did was teach the faculty CPR - one of our teachers had a heart attack 3 weeks after I started and I did CPR on him and they were SO impressed! They didn't think a school nurse could do that! So the principal agreed to let me arrange CPR class for them; it didn't hurt that they found out that their Liability Insurance would go down as a result! You can offer blood pressure screenings to teachers. Offer to go into class and do demonstrations - maybe little first aid demos or whatever. My school had no emergency response system for a large building, so I worked with administration and the athletic trainer and developed an efficient Emergency Response System that they still use today ( 25 years later!). You definitely need a walkie-talkie ( I got mine only after revising the EMS).
I agree that the previous school nurse may have liked hiding out in her office. But I'll bet if you look around and get creative, you can change all that!
By the way, my principal and director went on to develop the Learning Tree Seminars, well-known presentations done for school districts nationwide. They have also authored numerous books on education.
Good Luck
Try this if you can...every week buy yourself a supermarket gift card. After 10 months you'll have enough to cover the summer.
I do that for other items as well. Southwest Airlines,Cheesecake Factory etc. Went away this past weekend and the hotel bill was reduced by $200 because I converted airline miles. ALso used MyPOINTS rewards program and had $100 Cheescake Factory GC to use.
Buyer beware, BSN
1,139 Posts
You should read "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers. It is considered to be in the Southern Gothic genre of literature. She wrote it when she was 23 ( her first) and proves that even at that tender age a person can be an old soul.
If after reading it you do not ironically feel less lonely and invigorated, I would be surprised.