Should I take the job?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello all,

I graduated with my BSN in December 2008. I took a job in the ICU (adult population), and quickly found out that the stress of emergent situations was NOT for me, and quit after 9 months. I then got married and moved twice in 6 months (my husband is military).

So, I am now living in California and have been out of a job for the past 9 months. I recently interviewed for a position with the school district. I wouldn't be a district school nurse; the title of the job is Health Technician. The job requires a person that is either a LPN or RN. During the interview, the school nurse said that I would be going to a few different schools taking care of some sick special education children with the elementary, jr. and senior high schools. I would be responsible for the diabetic children (carb counting, insulin adminstration..etc), wound care, and tube feedings for the more sick special ed kids. BUT the pay is only $14/hr!!! I feel like this is quite a bit of responsibility for that little of pay, especially in California.

So, I guess my question is would this be pretty normal pay for a school job like this? I kinda feel like they are trying to get a school nurse for the cost of a medical assistant...

I'm also a bit nervous since I have no experience with children, and they said the orientation process is not "clear-cut" and depends on how I am doing..should I take the job or keep looking?

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Specializes in Critical Care/Coronary Care Unit,.

That job sounds like a lot of responsibility for a teeny amount of money. But you've been out of work for a long time. So a job is a job. Your husband is in the military so I assume you move a lot. Try signing up with All About Staffing, it's one of the largest and highest paying staffing agencies in the country. Also try signing up with your local agencies. You used to be an ICU nurse...but you don't have to book in the unit..you could book on a med/surg floor. You could also try the less stressful home health.

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I really am interested in home health/hospice. And the responsibilities at the school job sound similar to what a home health nurse does, but for a lot more money. Except we live in the middle of nowhere and my husband is afraid for me to go into homes alone. We have an exceptionally high number of sex offenders and meth houses in the cities surrounding the military base we live on. I'm at a loss of what to do. I don't really want to work in the hospital again (I would have to drive over an hour to get to one anyways) but I also don't want to take a job beneath my educational level and sell myself short..

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Do you want the job badly enough to work for $14 an hour? If I took the job, I would be sincerely continuing my job search for a position that paid more in line with what a licensed nurse should be earning.

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Frankly no I don't want to work for that little. I know school nurses don't make much compared to hospital nurses, but 14/hr is extreme. I don't need any benefits such as health insurance, so I think I am going to ask for $18-20/hr and if they refuse then I will decline. Is that more in line with what school nurses typically make?

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I think $18 to $20 would be better, but apparently employers are being successful finding people to work for less, otherwise they wouldn't be trying to get new employees with such lowball offers. I recently met a CNA working at a long term care facility who said they are making $14 an hour. Part of the problem is the out of the way area you say you are at.

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Have you looked at MWR/ MCCS (I'm not sure what service you are)? I recently saw that at the base we just left, they had an opening for an RN, but it was a little more "out of the box" type of job. The first line from the job description is:

"Serves as the Registered Nurse (RN) assigned to Marine Corps Community Services, Marine & Family Program, Children, Youth and Teen Program (CYTP) with responsibility to provide health support services and address special needs issues in all CYTP facilities and activities."

I know from your description that you're not at this particular base, but it was just an example (and it's says the salary range is $65K- $75K). Does the base not have a hospital? What about a clinic? Is there a Wounded Warrior unit there? Sorry, just trying to come up with random ideas. There are definitely some bases that are so far out in the middle of no where- great for shooting guns and dropping bombs, but not so much for being near the rest of humanity. =)

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

FOURTEEN dollars an hour?!?! Pfffftt! Heck no! Since you move so much, I would be contacting some travel companies that can hook you up. When I traveled, I made about $52/hr. This seems more in line with what would fit for you since you move so much. Unfortunately, most travel assignments ARE at hospitals.

As far as what they are asking you to do coupled with the pay rate, I would not even call back.

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I do school nursing with special needs children but I am located in one classroom and do not move around school sites. I deal with g-tube feedings, trach care, oxygen use and non-ambulatory kids. The kids come to this program 2-6 hours a day and then return to their homes. It follows along with the district school schedule so I do get all the normal holidays and days off including Summer time. The pay is $28 per hour with a $1.00 raise every year till it caps out at $36.00 per hour. By the way, I am in California. For the type of work you have described, $14.00 seems rather low to me.

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0402- I think we may have been stationed at the same place because MCCS just had that same job listing. Unfortunately, I received a rejection letter because the job required 1 year peds experience and a Masters degree. =(

cindyloulou-WOW you really put this into perspective for me. I had no idea school nurses could even make that much! But what you do is exactly what I would be doing, just at different schools everyday. I don't have peds experience though, but I think I should at least start at $20/hr!! I really like that I would work during the day when my husband works, and have all holidays off with him as well. But I just can't put my license on the line (if something happened) for $14/hr!!

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Specializes in Med-surg, OB, school nursing.

That sounds very low but since the postition was for a "health technician" and will also accept LPN's it sounds like they are not wanting to pay a typical RN salary. Also, you have to remember most school nurse's are paid on the teacher's salary if they are lucky and some much less which is what this sounds like. Only you can decide if it's worth it to you to have this job. It wouldn't hurt to try and get a larger pay rate, however, most of these jobs are already approved and settled for a certain amount in the budget before they are even offered so good luck!

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You said you didn't need healthcare benefits so why don't you ask them to waive those in exchange for a pay hike? All they can say is no.

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