School Nurse?

firstinfamily, RN · Sep 24, 2014

I have never known a new graduate that went directly into school nursing. I have found these positions are very difficult to enter, it seems you must know someone who is already a school nurse or know of one about to retire!! You could try getting yourself on the substitute nurse list for the school district you are interested in. Usually those on the list have the first dibs at getting a position and the school administration knows them. It would also give you an idea of what is involved in the position. It is hard to get into. You might look at getting some experience with school age children, pediatrics before you take the leap. How long have you been an LPN and what experience do you have?? I know they do prefer BSN RN nurses.

AdobeRN · Sep 25, 2014

The area I am in school nursing is competitive - usually once someone is in the position they tend to stay for awhile. The district I work in required 2 years of Pedi experience before hiring, but they did allow new nurses to substitute. Just like previous poster stated - get on the sub list to get your name/face out there. As you go to sub jobs - get to know the principals, receptionists etc - in my district when it comes to hiring a nurse it is the principal who makes the final decision.

SassyTachyRN · Sep 27, 2014

Definitely get on the sub lists in your local districts, call a local school nurse and they should be able to tell you who to contact to get on the sub list. In some districts principals hire the nurses, but it mine we have a health services manager who is a nurse who oversees all 30 of us nurses in our district. We are all RN's and most of us have BSN's. She's also in charge of all the subs. Subbing is a great way to get your foot in the door, get some experience, and generally subs know about opening positions before they go out to the public. I love my job, it's awesome!!! Good luck!!

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Sep 27, 2014

As I think you've seen now, it's very competitive. Let's face it: 180 school days a year, bad weather means snow days off, with a very desirable work schedule (winter breaks, spring breaks, summer months off). Even when you need to be in to work when school's closed in the summer (I have a friend that goes in a couple of weeks prior to school starting and stays about a week after it closes in June), it's still a pretty good gig :)

My school district is always asking for subs. The subs need to have peds/med-surg exprience; they won't consider a candidate without a solid med-surg background. And that's an easy requirement, as having that is pretty common for *most* experienced nurses. New nurses? I think they'd take them to sub, too, but I honestly don't know what the deal might be. They haven't had a need for a full-time nurse (or even part-time, come to think of it) for many years.....after all, the nurses there stay! BUT one day someone will decide to retire, and then one of those subs will get a full-time job there :)

Best of luck to you!