Transition to school nursing questions

[WonderousIvy, BSN]

Hello! 
I am considering switching to school nursing once my child starts school. How difficult would it be to get a position at my child’s school? I have no desire to work in another school. 
 

Does anyone continue to work PRN in their previous specialty? I’d like to keep my skills up and continue in my specialty area(ER).

thanks! 

[KittyKatRN]

It all depends on your local school district. You might get lucky that your child's school is hiring a school nurse at the same time you are wanting to get into school nursing. 

But in my opinion, school nursing is just like any other nursing specialty, sometimes you have to pay your dues to get the assignment you want. I started with elementary students even though I loved the preschool age. I had to wait a couple years working in elementary until the nurse at the preschool moved out of state and then I asked my superior if I could switch assignments. 

Some school districts you are hired by the actual school and in others you are a district employee and they can move you wherever they have an opening. 

I would keep your options open if you truly want to get into school nursing and know that it might not necessarily be at your child's school. 

[AdobeRN]

Start subbing to see if you actually like it - Sub jobs usually don't pay much but at least you can get a feel for the job.  The district I work for will hire from the sub list before hiring someone from the outside. 

In my area school nurse jobs are hard to get into - lots of people on that sub list just waiting for an opening; So when I was hired I took the first thing offered to me and was able to move to my desired neighborhood elementary school after about 1.5 years.  

If you end up getting a job offer that is not at your childs elementary school, check with the district to see if your child could attend the school you will work at.  Our district allows for employees to have their kids at their campus.  

Good Luck to you! 

 

[Glitternurse, LVN]

You probably want to check to see if you will be at one site or covering multiple sites. I am an LVN and work under a CSN between the 2 of us we cover 6 sites. I am at my children's school at times, but not everyday.

I was lucky, My district added an LVN position while I was working as an instructional assistant (I wanted to be on my kids schedule so I left nursing for a few years), so I got the job, because they knew me and and what kind of employee I was and still am.

[Mayflower22]

I transitioned to school nursing from a step-down unit in September. I still work PRN to keep up my skills. It's doable.

[beachynurse, ASN, BSN]

I had to sub for a while until an opening came up. We have site based management, which basically means the Principal hires all of the employees in the building including the nurse. You would have to wait for that nurse to leave before you would be able to apply. I actually had someone ask me if I knew when I was leaving because his wife wanted to be the nurse in my school since their kids were going there. I told him it was going to be a while since I plan on retiring from there, and have no plans on retiring any time soon.