Transition to School Nursing

[erinsbigsister, BSN, RN]

Hello All! 

I have been reading and reading on here and just had a light-bulb moment this morning that I could actually POST. 

This week, I will be signing on to become a school nurse. My last day in my current role will be Aug. 1 so that I will be covered for health insurance until my new position at the elementary school down the road starts at the end of August. My current role: I have been working for a health plan for almost 7 years. Prior to that I was a home health case manager for 4 years. (Prior to that: subacute rehab for a year, cardiac telemetry for a couple of years). When I started working for this health plan, I was part of an advanced preventive care program for Medicare Advantage members for management of chronic illness and health promotion. Basically, reducing unnecessary health care utilization. They ended that program after almost 6 years and transitioned us to telephonic care management with 1 home visit per person, then ended home visits, and now we manage care over the phone and work with people for 2-3 months at a time. I just got a raise to $108k per year. HOWEVER, I am working overtime every week (close to 50 hrs per week), vacations come at a price of wrapping things up before I go and then coming back to work that has piled up, I sit at a computer all day, and have just come to feel this is physically and mentally unhealthy for me. To top it off, I am currently working on my master's in nursing education, so I go from my computer/desk job to working on my computer for a few hours each evening. They have started auditing our charts more closely and monitoring how many calls we make and I am just no longer in the role I signed up for. 

A few weeks back, I called a friend that I had written a letter of reference for back in 2019 to ask her how she was liking her school nurse role and found out that there was a school nurse position being approved in her RSU that week. The timing was weirdly perfect. So here we are! My salary will decrease to $58k per year but good benefits, great hours, vacations (as you all know), and a pension if I stay there long enough. There are sick days also that we can bank...not really sure how that works yet and pretty sure they are just if we get sick, or maybe for MD appts? I am also looking forward to being around children in general and learning new things! The school is just 10 mins down the road from my house. My kids are all grown but I have grandkids (age 10 and 6) and they sometimes get off the bus at my house. Currently I set them up with playing outside for a certain amount of time, snack, then TV/coloring/an activity while I continue to make my calls (BLAH). New role will have me working from 8:15 - 3:30 and every Wed is an early-release day so will get out at 2:30 on Wednesdays. 

Here are my FEARS: I have been in geriatrics for a decade - no pediatric experience. I have not been providing direct care for the past 7 years. I feel like I need to take a first aid course, refresh my knowledge of Epipen use (have provided teaching but have never had to actually use one), and familiarize myself with insulin pumps/mgmt of type 1 DM in the school setting. I am signed up for a new school nurse orientation in August and have started looking up courses I could take to prep while I am off in August. 

Excited and nervous and all the things and would love any advice, encouragement, etc.! This week, I met with my advisor at college and will most likely be able to complete the clinical practicum in the school nurse setting. My friend also has her master's and should be able to be my preceptor for that. She will also basically be working alongside me - not in the same school but close by and will provide some support, though I will still need to be jumping in and figuring things out on my own. I oriented her to her role in home health and she is SO CONVINCED I am a perfect fit for this and will adjust quickly. I will still need to figure out my practicum in the educational setting but hopefully it can work with my hours...otherwise will have to push it to Summer 2027 when I am off. When I complete my master's, the pay will go up another $3k. Also, the RSU may be increasing our salaries by $10k for 2026 (I will be on teacher salary and they are talking about increasing it.) In my current role, I would have been using my vacation time to complete these practicums (5 weeks/year) and give myself a 3-4 day weekend once a month to work on projects for my courses. 

I know this was a little all over the place, so thank you for reading! Basically: Fears, learning/prep for this role to address those fears, and work/school/life balance are on my mind with this transition.

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom!!