Substitute School Nurse interview

[Nurse Magnolia, BSN, RN]

Hi All, 

I have been a nurse for 3 1/2 years, with the most recent job being a pediatric inpatient nurse at a specialty transition hospital.  I am working there now on a casual basis, but I also applied for a substitute school nurse position in my town and have an interview next week.  I was surprised to see that I would be considered a "health aide" since I am not a certified school nurse - even though the aide position requires an RN.  As a health aide, I would make $15/hr which is about 60% less than I make at my current job.  None of this bothers me- I was just surprised.  

The good news is, and please don't hate on me for this, I don't work for the money.  I am a second-career nurse and I don't really have to work at all from a financial standpoint anymore, but I work because I like it.  It's either volunteer or work - so $15 an hour is more than I'd get paid if I were volunteering so it's a win either way.  

My question is this - how does one get certified as a school nurse?  I've looked around and it looks like expensive and time-consuming college certification classes are what is required.  It seems counterintuitive to spend $15,000 or more on a certification process where if I come out I'd still be making less than I'd make in inpatient without the certification.  I may not need to work but I still want to make sound financial decisions! 

I'm going to see how I like being a substitute before deciding if I'd want to embark on the whole thing - but I'm pretty much over working inpatient at this point and I'm wondering what others have done.  Has the school district ever paid for you to obtain the certification?  Are there less expensive online reputable programs?  

[k1p1ssk, BSN, RN]

It really depends on where you are looking to work and what you mean by certified... There is board certification through NBCSN - this requires a bachelor's degree, RN License, and school health work hours. This is just like being board certified in Oncology or Pediatrics or Orthopedics, etc. 

If the school requires "certification" you should look into what this means in your state. In Massachusetts, to be a Professional Status School Nurse through the Department of ED, you either need the certification cited above OR a Masters in Nursing, along with work hours and the basic MTELs (grammar, reading, and writing). Some schools require you to have your certification prior to hire, some require professional status, and some just want a warm body in the building. 

In other states, certification means a graduate level certificate program, which yes, generally costs around 15k. But this does not get you board certified, and I don't believe that obtaining that certificate automatically enables you to sit for the exam either. 

So, in short, it's complicated! I think I would start by clarifying with the school you want to work for what they mean by certified and then go to your state's Dept of ED to find out what it means to them!

Good luck!