Will school nurses be extinct?

OldDude · Oct 16, 2018

I'm confident school nursing will be here in 20 years...and beyond. I'm not confident I understand your post otherwise about transitioning into something else if you give up hospice and not seeing students at school but you need to give up a job because you just had a baby...congratulations, by the way!

Farawyn · Oct 16, 2018

I entered school nursing two years ago with a large district working 2 days per week. We do not do any patient care, due to having one school for one day, we essentially only do screenings, IEPs, staff trainings, immunization, follow up on kinder requirements like physicals and dental exams.
i also work two days per week at a hospice agency doing admissions and visits just to keep my skills up.
Anyway, I just had a baby and need to get rid of one of my jobs.
I like school nursing but I honestly don't know if this will be around in 10-20 years due to budget cuts and also I don't see any students (the other nurses in the school district are very strict that we should not be doing first aid and they want us all to be consistent about it). I like the fact that there is a pension due to being part of the teachers inion but honestly not sure if this will be viable when I retire (I'm only in my thirties) and if I give us hospice, not sure how school nursing can transition into another specialty as I don't do any patient care at all.
What do you all think about the future of school nursing ??

I think as more kids are adapting with illness and allergies there will be a higher need to school nurses.

cowboysandangels, BSN · Oct 16, 2018

I see a higher need for nurses in schools in the future. In the past children with special needs or complex medical concerns were not sent to school in the same manner we see today. In our school district we have students with feeding tubes, catheters, baclofen pumps, diastat suppositories, etc. I do not foresee those needs going away. If anything, I see a higher need for more nurses and one for every school. It surprises me that you have no patient contact with the students in your district. I am a hands on nurse daily and love my job.

Cas1in72 · Oct 16, 2018

I certainly hope not. I think the need for a nurse is even greater than before. We are the front line, and in the case of many of my students, the only health care professional they may see regularly. We need to be here to teach, advocate for the students and do ALL of the other amazing things school nurse's do. This is by far the hardest nursing job I have had in 25 years, that says a lot coming from an acute care/hospital setting.

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · Oct 17, 2018

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Not a school nurse, but I love reading your posts. It always cheers me up when your forum comes out of hibernation after you guys return from summer break.

Trauma Columnist · Oct 17, 2018

In my area (rural) there are no school nurses and haven't been for >20 years (at least since my sons were in school). Even in the bigger city there are few school nurses (maybe 1-2 per district). This is due to budget cuts.

Parents and school non-medical staff are the ones dolling out pills, putting bandaids on, ice, etc..

My husband teaches at a 2800 student high school in a large city and there is one school nurse part time.

kidzcare · Oct 17, 2018

In my area (rural) there are no school nurses and haven't been for >20 years (at least since my sons were in school). Even in the bigger city there are few school nurses (maybe 1-2 per district). This is due to budget cuts.
Parents and school non-medical staff are the ones dolling out pills, putting bandaids on, ice, etc..
My husband teaches at a 2800 student high school in a large city and there is one school nurse part time.

This makes me sad. School nurses are optional while other areas of the budget are sacred.

OldDude · Oct 17, 2018

In my area (rural) there are no school nurses and haven't been for >20 years (at least since my sons were in school). Even in the bigger city there are few school nurses (maybe 1-2 per district). This is due to budget cuts.
Parents and school non-medical staff are the ones dolling out pills, putting bandaids on, ice, etc..
My husband teaches at a 2800 student high school in a large city and there is one school nurse part time.

This makes me sad. School nurses are optional while other areas of the budget are sacred.

You bet!! I would gamble you could take 10% of the district football budget and fund a school nurse for every campus.

kidzcare · Oct 17, 2018

You bet!! I would gamble you could take 10% of the district football budget and fund a school nurse for every campus.

Yep. How about administrator salaries? Our building nurses make 12% of what the superintendent makes. Not saying that superintendent should not be well paid for such a big job but our building nurses work hard day in and day out to keep students healthy and safe and it pretty much goes unnoticed.

ABRN2012 · Oct 17, 2018

When I first started in school nursing that is all I heard, that the budget just couldnt allow for nurses. We had a grant for nurses thru our state that paid for me and another nurse. We were still a ratio of 1 nurse to around 1500 kids. In the 4 years that I have worked for this district we have had a revolving door for nurses. The need is definitely there but just about every nurse leaves because it is too much on one person. And the liability that they put on us causes most nurses to go back to bedside nursing and more money. It is not an easy job at all! But school personnel of course will never understand. Now 4 years later we still have the same nurse student ratio but we have at least 2 assistants to every grade level. They have probably added 20 non certified positions for tutoring, keeping in school supension, personal assistants for autistic students, ect. But still one school nurse to cover at least 3 schools. Its sad. But no I do not think it will ever be extinct.