Less Pay?

[KKEGS]

I do believe the saying that money isn't everything but would you ever switch districts for less pay? I certainly took less pay to get out of the hospital. I am interviewing for a new position in my home district on Monday and my daughter's kindergarten teacher is the union rep. :) She sent me the pay scale. Not good, guys. I'd be taking a $5000-6000 pay cut and paying slightly more ($30 a month) for health insurance. I'd get a 50% discount on childcare costs though and would be in the same district as my kids. My kids do go to the after school program 5 days a week and on some holiday breaks because our vacations don't currently line up. I'd be one of only 3 school nurses and would be doing almost exclusively the case management. The school health offices are all staffed and run by LPNs and they do the first aid and med passing. Right now I'm one of 7 nurses and only a couple of our health offices are staffed by LPNs so I do have more contact with the kids. I'm not opposed to doing more case management stuff. That's initally why I was interested in the school nurse role. I'd love to get some insight from people who've changed districts and why you chose to do it. TIA

[KKEGS, MSN, RN]

On the flip side of Blue Moon...all 5 of my kids have attended elementary school at my campus and have attended/are attending other campuses in my district. We have one Intermediate, one JH, and one HS in a town with almost 16,000 people. The same town and High School I graduated from about the time when Lincoln was president. I know a "few" people and a "few" people know me. Sweet Petunia will not go to the grocery store with me because she feels invisible from the number of people saying "HI, how are you?' or the endless, "hey mom, that's my nurse!" I've been privy to a lot of stuff over the years and have honored confidentiality. But, being in my position, I have used it to do good and can say I've helped a lot of parents and kids through "situations" over the years. Additionally, it is very helpful to have "eyes" on other campuses report back to me about my children. All and all, I wouldn't want it to be any other way. I know school nursing would not be the same for me if I worked in a district where my kids did not attend.

Just sayin...

Hey OD! I've been hoping you'd chime in! You give great advice! I've also considered how I would feel even more invested in my community if the school district was both my employer AND the district my kids attended. I do often feel like an outsider right now because this isn't my community. Lots to consider definitely.

[kidzcare]

I work in the same district that my kids attend but not at the same school. I don't think I would mind working at one of the school they attend. It is a large district and I don't often run into my students when out and about. I like that their teachers generally know that I work for the district- I feel like I get more "professional courtesy" when I ask about things or when parents are contacted.

[RatherBHiking, BSN, RN]

I also think it also depends on the school district. In my town we have 263 people. So we have to combine several rural area towns to make up one grade school, middle school and high school. The entire high school is smaller than my own graduating class was. The entire school district has one nurse. The district I work in now is where I attended school (not the exact same school though) but by comparison we have 30 + nurses and schools. I like the support of other nurses. Plus if I get tired of a school I have the option to change schools once in a while or even work part time if I ever decide. I couldn't do that in my own kid's school district. It doesn't really matter much anyway as I only have one kid left in school and he's in high school. I'm still glad I stayed put as I only have one school instead of three!