School Nurse

Moved to school nursing forum. If you are not licensed as a nurse you cannot hold the title of nurse. Most districts get around this by using the title of health care assistant.

Also check scope of practice for medics, in some states medics can only work under the direction or protocols from an emergency dept physician. (This happened in a research facility I worked where the nurse manager assumed medics were autonomous and could take direction from any physician and was shocked when notified by the dept of health/EMS director that medics in my state can only work in the field or ED under the direction of an emergency dept physician. Otherwise they are considered EMTs (I.e. no invasive procedures---nurse mgr wanted to hire medics for IV starts & PICC lines))

The position is actually called "health technition"

Sorry, should've clarifies that, so technically, I'm still not a nurse.

But, they are looking for EMT's, and I probably wouldn't be doing any invasive procedures.

Just wondering if it would look better, considering my assessment skills are a little more in tune then that of an 4 month EMT.

Wonder if people take that into consideration.

Thank you, though.

What does the job description state? Who's direction/authority/protocols would you be working under? Most states do not permit medics to administer medication outside EMS protocol.

Assessment is one component of school health which is handy for first aid situations and emergencies. But yes a medic who completed a longer program likely has better emergency assessment skills than an EMT-B.

however.....Who performs the vaccine reviews, health screenings (vision, hearing etc) (in my state only an RN BSN+ certified school nurse can perform these screenings or the health dept public health nurse) , routine medication administration, creation & review of individual health plans (IHP)?

School health is more than first aid. There are chronic students (asthmatics, epileptics, diabetics) that require care and monitoring. I am not a school nurse (I do individual student monitoring care for school districts as part of a private duty agency in addition to asthmatic/allergic/epileptic student bus runs) but had the opportunity to work with 2 school nurses as a student. It was very eye opening.

Some states the school district RN is permitted to delegate routine medication distribution to a qualified health technician. But all IHPs, vaccination & health reviews, and routine screening must be completed by a qualified school nurse. It's one nurse for several schools with health assistants /techs at the school on a daily basis.

There is an RN for the ditrict, but, there are techs for each school. I'd have to ask about med administration. Good point.

Well you do have some experience working with kids so that is better than none. I guess it all depends on what experience the other applicants have. It's worth a try! Good luck!