School nurse vs. Med Aide

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Hello all:) I'm an RN in Nebraska employed by a school district part time in the elementary as a Med Aid. We are a smaller school district and in the past one RN has covered the elementary(380 students) and the Jr/Sr High(350 students). When I was hired 2 years ago I was told(unofficially by the superintendent) that the current RN would be leaving within a year or two. I took a drastic paycut to take the position to get my foot in the door as school nurse is my dream job. I function as an RN, though my title and pay are Med Aide. The official school nurse has been wonderful, showing me the ropes and working together- she had been extremely over worked juggling the between the 2 schools. Now that I have taken 1/2 her load, I think her plan is to stay for the longhaul. She now comes to the elementary for 2 hours a few days a week and I am the nurse the rest of the time. Sometimes it feels like more work and I spend more time trying to communicate about each situation than I spend on my other job duties. I'd love to present my argument to the school on why a full time nurse is needed at each school vs a part time Med Aid. I feel like the district is getting a pretty good deal- RN for the price of a Med Aide. While I love my school and my job, but I'm not sure how I can stay if this will be the long term arrangements. I'm looking for reasons why a full time school nurse, not a Med Aide, should be at each school. Any thoughts or suggestions are apprecaiated, as I hope to have this discussion with the principal and superintendant.

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Sadly, this is how a lot of schools run. My district has 2 certified school nurses and we get paid on the teachers scale. They have to have us to meet the state quota. We also have 4 other RN's (2 of whom have a BSN) and they get paid aide wages. It's not fair but I don't foresee it changing any time soon. I sometimes feel that we nurses are a necessary evil to the education community.

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Specializes in Med-surg, school nursing..

And unfortunately you've now proven to them that they can get the RN -with knowledge and degree- for MA pay. (No judgement here, when I first started the job I was an RN in an LPN position)

I agree that every school should have an RN or LPN, but why would they pay the "big bucks" *ha* when the well qualified person will do it for much, much less.

Our jobs are awesome, hard, but awesome. That is why so many of us took large pay cuts to do what we do. Best of luck friend.

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It really stinks for you because legally, you have to practice to the highest scope of your degree, so while you are functioning and being paid as an aide, you are expected to practice with a RN knowledge base, yet you are not getting compensated for that. I am slightly in a similar boat, as I am a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, working (and being paid) as a School Nurse. But I love what I do. For me, I would do this over seeing patients in a clinical setting as a PNP any day. If I had known how much I would love school nursing, I would have never gotten my PNP degree, though I do love having the extra clinical knowledge and assessment skills. I just have to be careful since school nurses can't diagnose.

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

You are in a terrible position. Your position should limit you to medical aide duties. Plainly you're providing nursing care because you can (and the district is getting a great deal) but you need to check what your BON has to say about practicing as a nurse if you're not in a nursing role.

Your foot's firmly in the door. Are there any other districts around where you could be employed to your scope?

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Specializes in Cardiology, School Nursing, General.

That's not good, and this coming from an actual Medical Aide. If I was an RN and I was being paid what I'm paid now, I would leave. This is what I was told as well when I asked about this, if my pay goes up when I do become one, and they told me stays the same.

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Specializes in School nursing.
If I had known how much I would love school nursing, I would have never gotten my PNP degree, though I do love having the extra clinical knowledge and assessment skills. I just have to be careful since school nurses can't diagnose.

Funny enough, I was in a direct entry program and left with my BSN after working in school nursing for a year. I was in the MSN portion part time and was just completing the theory coursework (which I found interesting and applicable to my job) when it hit me that I was likely going to spend my career in school nursing and I do not need my NP for this. Plus, I did not feel ready to be a NP yet.

OP - that stinks. You are in a terrible position and others have offered some good advice. Any other job openings in neighboring districts? You have great experience that can get your foot into the door at another school in a RN position.

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