1st School Nurse Interview

[UpliftingRN]

Hi Everyone!

I am super excited and super nervous to have my 1st school nurse interview tomorrow! I was hoping to get some suggestions/pointers on how to prepare from all of you seasoned and experienced nurses. I am particularly nervous because I am coming from a nursing career without much peds experience and will have to brush up on my knowledge. Any tips or tricks will help! Hoping to be "one of you" soon ?!

[Bulldogs, CNA, EMT-B]

Nose bleeds, paper work, Screenings, immunization compliance, and daily medications. 750 Students pre k-12 plus staff, there is always something to do or that needs to be done.

[BrisketRN, BSN, RN]

23 minutes ago, UpliftingRN said:

Update: Interview went well! Thank you for all the advice on what to brush up on clinically! I have a final interview this week with the rest of the school board. The Director of Nursing gave me some more insight into what the student body looks like:

Private school of 1500 students

200-300 faculty

1 Nursing director + potentially me (currently 2 per diems)

2 seizure kiddos, 1 diabetic, several on epi allergy plans, several regular meds

The director said that it's a mad house there and she's always running around and there's a lot of work to do. I am all about the hustle and bustle and actually like a face-paced environment. However, these kiddos don't sound too "clinically sick" compared to what I've been hearing. Wondering what else could be so taxing there? I'm actually thankful I will have a less sick population since my clinical skills need to be ramped back up after so long without hands on experience and that I have another nurse to hopefully mentor me a bit.

What else other than lots of sick kiddos creates a lot of difficulty for you as school nurses?

Many of the visits we see are less severe illness--colds, fevers, coughs, stomach aches, headaches, migraines, questionable rashes. I'll see sports, PE, recess related injuries that can range from bruises and boo-boos to visibly broken bones and concussions. At least one week a year there's a gross stomach bug outbreak, and I'll have 2-5 students vomiting in my office each day for that week. Then there are the fakers. Kids just trying to get out of class using the power of subjective symptoms and WebMD. Outside of student visits I'll spend time chasing up parents for vaccination records/dental records/eye exam records/physicals, getting the necessary paperwork ready for students on crutches (I swear we have 3 more kids on crutches every week), completing documentation, and dealing with whatever random concerns parents are emailing me about. There's never a dull moment.

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

8 minutes ago, BiscuitRN said:

Many of the visits we see are less severe illness--colds, fevers, coughs, stomach aches, headaches, migraines, questionable rashes. I'll see sports, PE, recess related injuries that can range from bruises and boo-boos to visibly broken bones and concussions. At least one week a year there's a gross stomach bug outbreak, and I'll have 2-5 students vomiting in my office each day for that week. Then there are the fakers. Kids just trying to get out of class using the power of subjective symptoms and WebMD. Outside of student visits I'll spend time chasing up parents for vaccination records/dental records/eye exam records/physicals, getting the necessary paperwork ready for students on crutches (I swear we have 3 more kids on crutches every week), completing documentation, and dealing with whatever random concerns parents are emailing me about. There's never a dull moment.

Word! What biscuit said!!

Glad it went well! I am guessing since it is a private school, you won't have to manage State mandated screenings. If that is the case, that takes a huge load off your plate. There is a LOT more admin/paperwork involved in public school because of all the State regulations. There are not typically 504/IEP in private school, so another thing off your plate. It sounds like you will have a light load in terms of "medically fragile" kids which is good. My guess is all the hustle and bustle is from passing out meds, dealing with the high maintenance parents, and dealing with the general day to day illness complaints. It is a large school so I am sure there are kids in and out all day long. Keep us posted on the second interview.

[UpliftingRN, BSN, RN]

Thank you so much everyone for your insight and advice! My second interview is tomorrow with the RN Director of Nursing and the rest of the administration. I'm so full of excitement and nervousness at the thought of this new journey! I've never worked in a school environment and I don't have a ton of pediatric experience so I'm hoping my personality, passion and ambitions shine through! ❤️❤️❤️

18 minutes ago, UpliftingRN said:

My second interview is tomorrow with the RN Director of Nursing and the rest of the administration

My bet is they want to hear you are a "team player" and excited for this opportunity (which it sounds like you totally are). They want to make sure you aren't cray-cray ?

[UpliftingRN, BSN, RN]

UPDATE!

I had my interview yesterday with the administration and the RN Director and I think it went well. I forgot how intimidating principals were lol! They were really grilling me and picking apart my experience (which was lacking school or peds experience). I felt a little inadequate at first but I felt by the end of the interview I won them over a bit with my personality and obvious passion for anything I do. I'm assuming it went well because the recruiter from HR has reached out asking for my references. Keeping my fingers crossed!

On 10/11/2019 at 11:34 AM, UpliftingRN said:

the recruiter from HR has reached out asking for my references.

Always a good sign!! Good luck.

[UpliftingRN, BSN, RN]

I GOT AN OFFER!

It is for $62,679 annually, paid out bi-monthly for the entire year for a 172 day school year. I'm getting nervous because I've never made this amount as an RN so I hoping this is a good offer? It's so hard to tell here in NYC because when I search online for salaries they varied pretty widely. It's a private school with a "Staff Association" that has a pay scale (separate for faculty and all other staff) which they cap at compensating past 8 years experience. Any thoughts?

[BrisketRN, BSN, RN]

29 minutes ago, UpliftingRN said:

I GOT AN OFFER!

It is for $62,679 annually, paid out bi-monthly for the entire year for a 172 day school year. I'm getting nervous because I've never made this amount as an RN so I hoping this is a good offer? It's so hard to tell here in NYC because when I search online for salaries they varied pretty widely. It's a private school with a "Staff Association" that has a pay scale (separate for faculty and all other staff) which they cap at compensating past 8 years experience. Any thoughts?

Sounds like a good offer to me! School nurse salaries vary wildly here in Chicago too--from $35k to as much as $95k in some of the suburbs. I'm at a private school and am lumped with the administrative/office staff which doesn't have a payscale.