Wanna be a school nurse

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What is the best way to get into school nursing? I have 12 years of adult cardiac nursing. All of it in the hospital setting and even some ICU experience. I want a change of pace, better hours and I would enjoy interacting with kids. What kind of experience is most beneficial as a school nurse? What's the best way to get my foot in the door? I'm also wondering if I need to try to get pediatric experience because there are several kids in my school system with pretty severe medical issues such as brittle diabetics, continuous tube feedings, and one child who has frequent seizures. Of course, I am confident in dealing with these issues in adults, but not with kids. Please help. Any advice is appreciated.

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Specializes in Psych/Substance Abuse & School Clinics.

Don't know where you're from, but here in Fl. you can work as a clinic sub with NO medical/healthcare experience at all..only requirement is a high school diploma!!! So if you have an RN or LPN behind your name you are GOLD to school boards(if you're prepared to do it for the love of it & not for the money!). You'd have to check with your local school board or health dept. about applying. Here we apply with the school board, but others I've heard have to apply with the health dept. The diabetics, depending on their grade level=elementary, jr. high, or high school --- many check their own sugar & inject themselves...many have pumps. The seizure kids are usually on meds, that you give out in the clinic. If they seize in school, we protect from injury, and depending on what environment they're in (self-contained classroom or regular), we make sure they're OK when they come out of it or we call a parent to come get them. I've only had 1 tube feed. Any health issues at school are usually easily manageable.

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Thanks for the input. How long have you been a school nurse? What is the most challenging aspect of your job? Please tell me the best and worst parts.

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Specializes in Most all.

For supportive information on school nursing and making the switch I have three favorite sites

1. Geri Harvey's school nurse perspectives site:

http://snp.homestead.com/contents.html

2. NASN national site www.nasn.org

3. Your state's school nurse site which you can find on this page: http://www.nasn.org/Default.aspx?tabid=60

Good Luck.

Lana Woods, BSN, RN

Adair Oklahoma

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Specializes in just about everything.

I live in Tx and each school districts have different requiremnts. Most require a BSN, our district is small and we have LVN's at all school put mine. I am the only Rn. but as people leave they are filling them with RN's. You can call the different districts in your area and find out how they hire and go from there I love it. I have dione everything in the hospital, and this is what I have always wanted to do.

I do alot of teaching. I work with grades pre k- 4th. we had acouple cases of staph here, so I developed a hand awareness program with handwashing and other things to prevent spreading of germs. I loveit.

I have 3 months off in summer and 2 weeks at christmas, spring break and thanksgiving and get paid the whole time. Our kids and gradnkids live in Ca, so we go out there every christmas and summer. also check the web site that okschool nurse has that is a good site too.

GOod luck to you.

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Peds, School Nurse, DD.

I would think you would want to get at least some experience working with children. Pediatrics is a whole 'nother world, very different from working with adults. I think for your own peace of mind you'll want to do some kind of rotation working with basically well children--perhaps working as a camp nurse.

How did I know I would actually like school nursing? I started as a camp nurse for my son's church group and graduated to chaperoning my daughter's choir tours as the designated Tour Nurse. I spent short bursts of time with healthy elementary & middle school children. In both situations I was responsible for all meds and all healthcare decision-making during emergencies.

My major areas of nursing experience have been OB/GYN and PICU/NICU. I've been a mother for 22yrs. Both of those roles have helped shape my effectiveness as a school nurse. I feel very confident in my abilities to recognize an emergency due to my nursing experience and I know how to nurture without being a wuss due to my parenting experience. It's the Perfect Nursing Storm! :nurse:

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The time off is definately one of the perks of the job for me!! I would be so happy if I never had to work another holiday or weekend or 12 hour shift. Plus the kids are so cool to be around. They always make me smile because they are so darn cute and say the cutest things. Now that my kids are grown and have moved away, being off for holidays and weekends is even more important. If they visit me or I get to go there, our only time to be together is weekends and holidays!!

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I live near an urban area, so it was easier to get the position. In my state, there are school nurse positions where you are not a member of the corporation but employed by hospitals, through a grant program, or some other program. I think one way would be to talk to a school nurse in your area and find out how they did it. My experiences at the high school level have been very positive and I had little peds experience. It took me about 4 months to find the position I wanted. Good Luck.

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You should be able to find the minimum requirements for School Nursing in your state's school nurse association web site.

Here is the link for the National Association of School Nurses state affiliates. http://www.nasn.org/Default.aspx?tabid=60

Most states require a BSN or a BA with public health nursing course work because school nursing involves both individual child health care and the public health population role. There are many states that require state certification which may or may not require some graduate course work and certification exams. North Carolina requires the national certification within 3 years (http://www.nbcsn.org), California requires you earn a masters degree within 5 years and Massachusetts will accept either national certification or a masters degree.

My own acute background was Peds and NICU, both of which I have found extremely benefical as preparation for school nursing.

NASN provides Diabetes and other Workshops for those who want more expertise for the care of the school child: http://www.nasn.org/Default.aspx?tabid=110

* Helping Administer to the Needs of the Student with Diabetes in School (H.A.N.D.S.SM)

* School Nurse Childhood Obesity Prevention Education (S.C.O.P.E.)

* Disaster Preparedness for School Nurses

* Managing Asthma Triggers (MAT)

And also online CEUs for any nurse interested regardless of specialty:

http://www.nasn.org/Default.aspx?tabid=58

Some children's hospitals provide school nurse workshops for medically fragile care: vents, trachs, transplant care, cancer, central lines and GT tubes and feeding. Check with your nearest childrens hospital for more information.

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Awesome!! U have lots of good information. Thank you sooo much.

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