SO many school nurse positions available right now

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Community Health, School Health.

It's crazy, it took me forever to find a job as a school nurse in 2015 and I finally found one. Now my current (new in September) position was a lucky find, but all of a sudden I am seeing seriously every school district (including the one where I work) within 25 miles is desperate for school nurses. I have been emailed and cold called from a recruiter about open positions as well. I'm sure if I were unemployed I would never find a job, LOL. I am in MA by the way, just North of Boston. Oh, and my old school called me b/c the nurse they hired to replace me isn't coming back...are you seeing similar trends where you work?

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Specializes in pediatrics, school nursing.

I'm in Western Mass and the only districts where retention isn't great are the ones where the school nurses are hourly/non-contracted. Otherwise, like you, it takes YEARS to get in to a good district/school.

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Specializes in School nursing.

I'm in Eastern MA. I think schools are seeing more and more students that require school nursing services (especially for some 504s/IEPs) that means they made be creating position that once wasn't there.

But the truly great jobs don't have a ton of turnover.

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There aren't a lot of openings in my immediate area, BUT my state does not require a nurse in every school-lots of schools get away with having unlicensed personnel sitting in the health office or have a secretary take care of the health needs.

There isn't a common pot for school districts to draw from for funds. Each school district only receives funds from property taxes within their district, so the wealthier districts have more money to pull from and the low income districts get squat.

With that being said, here is my theory:

There is a great deal of turnover in the low income districts which have either severe social issues, low paying rates, 1 nurse in charge of multiple schools, or a combination of the 3.

Now, in the wealthier area of the suburbs, the retention is much higher because there are less social issues (not saying there aren't any), the pay is much greater, and the general moral is higher.

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1 hour ago, JenTheSchoolRN said:

But the truly great jobs don't have a ton of turnover.

This

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Specializes in School Nursing, Pediatrics.

I'm in Central MA, in a big district and we are hiring more as well, we have more medical needs students at school, plus we try to keep 1 RN per 450 students at a school, and depending on med needs as well. Plus we always need subs!

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Specializes in School nursing.
Just now, scuba nurse said:

I'm in Central MA, in a big district and we are hiring more as well, we have more medical needs students at school, plus we try to keep 1 RN per 450 students at a school, and depending on med needs as well. Plus we always need subs!

YES to subs. I started as sub in MA before getting my full time gig and I got called all the time!

I have one nursing school friend with a currently flexible job schedule that subs for me thankfully, but if I get sick suddenly, there is not guarantee that friend can cover. I told my boss that we need an agency on stand-by and be prepared to use them if needed. Agency is big $$$.

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Specializes in School Nursing, Pediatrics.
13 minutes ago, JenTheSchoolRN said:

YES to subs. I started as sub in MA before getting my full time gig and I got called all the time!

I have one nursing school friend with a currently flexible job schedule that subs for me thankfully, but if I get sick suddenly, there is not guarantee that friend can cover. I told my boss that we need an agency on stand-by and be prepared to use them if needed. Agency is big $$$.

YES, that is how I started as well, I was s sub!

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15 minutes ago, scuba nurse said:

YES, that is how I started as well, I was s sub!

I'm going the opposite way...from full time these last 5 years to subbing next year. MA is a little too long of a commute for me though ?

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The rich suburbs pay less than the city in my area. In my opinion, more school nurse positions are available because outpatient salaries have gone up in the past few years. You can now make more $ working in outpatient peds.

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Specializes in School nursing.
23 minutes ago, 2BS Nurse said:

The rich suburbs pay less than the city in my area. In my opinion, more school nurse positions are available because outpatient salaries have gone up in the past few years. You can now make more $ working in outpatient peds.

City school nursing is a tough game, speaking as one that works in a city district. My commute is not super fun, but the pay is higher in the city so I deal with it.

Also of note - in MA public districts do need to technically apply for the ability to delegate medications beyond the school nurse. You won't get this permit (so to speak) if you don't have a school physician and if you do not meet the state's school nurse ratio, which is 1 full time school nurse per 500 students. Schools may be adding to get to this ratio.

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On 1/9/2020 at 2:04 PM, k1p1ssk said:

I'm in Western Mass

My sister is in South Deerfield and works in Northampton ? So pretty out there!

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