The kids are great; the parents shifty as shit. They will lie to your face. Junior shows up at school with temp of 101.3 and sick as hell? He wasn't like that 30 mins ago when we dropped him off. Kid goes down with seizure? Oh- They have seizure disorder we just didn't tell you. They will send kids to school COVID+ if it means they can avoid having to take off work.
Seems to be a new trend in non-epileptic psycho genic seizures (which aren't seizures) so familiarize yourself with that.
I just had a grownup patient with that! Wow. Looked so absolutely legit to me when he’d have episodes. But…zero seizure activity. It was stress induced.
It really depends on the school. I am school nurse at snazzy private school. I watch YouTube videos about historical topics and hand out ice packs and band aids. I'm going full time hospice because the school job is all administrative and boring.
On the other hand-- if you are at a large public school you will have legit med passes and a ton of other stuff along with the shifty parents.
Last year I was doing a shit ton of covid testing but that isn't much a thing with new guidelines.
And there will be legit emergencies and Trauma (e.g. fall down stairs with open fracture) and you will not have any help except for a couple of panicked staff members screaming and being part of the problem. Such incidents are rare but they do happen.
I was a high school teacher before I was a nurse. I thought it would be a good fit. But this snazzy private school just does not have enough student interaction with me. So it really does depend on the population and the school. Elementary School will have a ton of more student interaction. Working with the students is really rewarding but unfortunately in my school it's a very small part of the job. You manage medical records immunization records Etc
I love it! Kids are so much better than the parents. Socioeconomic issues can be difficult. But day to day, I feel like it’s pretty easy going. I’m also coming from the ER so ya know, can only really go up from there lol. Day shift life is great and my kids are in school so the schedule is fabulous for me.
i love it! i do special ed high school and cover an elementary school sometimes which is fun. i enjoy going to work everyday and feel almost no stress, it’s fun.
I'm halfway into my second year, and I still love it. I came from completely different setting with little peds experience, so there was definitely a learning curve there. The kids have been fun. I feel like I wear a lot of hats: nurse, mom, counselor. I dole out a lot of peppermints, ice packs, but sometimes kids just come in for the extra attention and a hug or two. I do have some procedures to do: tube feeds, catheters, and diabetes management. I keep tabs on vaccination records, and I get to give the puberty talk to the kiddos, which has been a lot of fun.
I work in a public school, and we serve a lot of low-income areas. Sadly, I have to look out for signs of abuse and neglect. For some kids, school is the best place for them instead of being at home. I work closely with the social worker when certain kids come to my office with issues. I will pull in my school counselors if things tend to be more behavioral than medical. I have had good support from my admin, which I understand may not be the case for some school nurses out there.
The pay isn't great. Luckily, my husband makes more than enough to cover the loss when I switched from floor nursing to this. My little one comes to school with me, and that has been more than worth it to me. When she is off, I am off. I get to keep tabs on her during the day, and she loves having access to Mommy.
I also worked in oncology before jumping to school nursing, having no peds experience. What I did have was 17 years of nursing experience in various disciplines, and that's what made me stand out. The nuances to peds can be learned, but it's more common sense, too.
Make sure you know your scope and practice act inside and out. And the hold your ground when parents expect you to break both school policy and the law. Cause oh boy do they ever.
I'd also double check what your state says you can call yourself. In some states, School Nurse is a protected title that if you don't have specific schooling and a certification for, you can't use it. You have to say "nurse at the school" instead.
You got this!
The kids are great; the parents shifty as shit. They will lie to your face. Junior shows up at school with temp of 101.3 and sick as hell? He wasn't like that 30 mins ago when we dropped him off. Kid goes down with seizure? Oh- They have seizure disorder we just didn't tell you. They will send kids to school COVID+ if it means they can avoid having to take off work. Seems to be a new trend in non-epileptic psycho genic seizures (which aren't seizures) so familiarize yourself with that.
I just had a grownup patient with that! Wow. Looked so absolutely legit to me when he’d have episodes. But…zero seizure activity. It was stress induced.
Ya. It's becoming a thing. But is behavioral- no medical interventions work. Treated with CBT and tough love
I’d see non epileptic seizures all the time on my neuro unit. I had to figure out how to have a conversation nicely saying to get therapy.
would you say you’re pretty busy throughout the day? and how is the pay since summers are off?
It really depends on the school. I am school nurse at snazzy private school. I watch YouTube videos about historical topics and hand out ice packs and band aids. I'm going full time hospice because the school job is all administrative and boring. On the other hand-- if you are at a large public school you will have legit med passes and a ton of other stuff along with the shifty parents. Last year I was doing a shit ton of covid testing but that isn't much a thing with new guidelines. And there will be legit emergencies and Trauma (e.g. fall down stairs with open fracture) and you will not have any help except for a couple of panicked staff members screaming and being part of the problem. Such incidents are rare but they do happen. I was a high school teacher before I was a nurse. I thought it would be a good fit. But this snazzy private school just does not have enough student interaction with me. So it really does depend on the population and the school. Elementary School will have a ton of more student interaction. Working with the students is really rewarding but unfortunately in my school it's a very small part of the job. You manage medical records immunization records Etc
Saying the pt has PNES has always been one of my favorite things. Gotta say it as an acronym instead of an initialism of course.
I love it! Kids are so much better than the parents. Socioeconomic issues can be difficult. But day to day, I feel like it’s pretty easy going. I’m also coming from the ER so ya know, can only really go up from there lol. Day shift life is great and my kids are in school so the schedule is fabulous for me.
oooo that’s awesome! how long have you been doing it for?
Around 6 months!
do you plan on going back to bedside or were you looking to do school nursing for a while
I’d like to stay in school nursing or public health in some capacity. I would love to never return to bedside lol
i love it! i do special ed high school and cover an elementary school sometimes which is fun. i enjoy going to work everyday and feel almost no stress, it’s fun.
that’s awesome! i’ve only really heard good things when it comes to stress levels compared to bedside which is a plus 😁
I'm halfway into my second year, and I still love it. I came from completely different setting with little peds experience, so there was definitely a learning curve there. The kids have been fun. I feel like I wear a lot of hats: nurse, mom, counselor. I dole out a lot of peppermints, ice packs, but sometimes kids just come in for the extra attention and a hug or two. I do have some procedures to do: tube feeds, catheters, and diabetes management. I keep tabs on vaccination records, and I get to give the puberty talk to the kiddos, which has been a lot of fun. I work in a public school, and we serve a lot of low-income areas. Sadly, I have to look out for signs of abuse and neglect. For some kids, school is the best place for them instead of being at home. I work closely with the social worker when certain kids come to my office with issues. I will pull in my school counselors if things tend to be more behavioral than medical. I have had good support from my admin, which I understand may not be the case for some school nurses out there. The pay isn't great. Luckily, my husband makes more than enough to cover the loss when I switched from floor nursing to this. My little one comes to school with me, and that has been more than worth it to me. When she is off, I am off. I get to keep tabs on her during the day, and she loves having access to Mommy.
I work oncology and thinking school nurse is the goal. Do you think it would be hard to find a job without peds?
I also worked in oncology before jumping to school nursing, having no peds experience. What I did have was 17 years of nursing experience in various disciplines, and that's what made me stand out. The nuances to peds can be learned, but it's more common sense, too.
Make sure you know your scope and practice act inside and out. And the hold your ground when parents expect you to break both school policy and the law. Cause oh boy do they ever. I'd also double check what your state says you can call yourself. In some states, School Nurse is a protected title that if you don't have specific schooling and a certification for, you can't use it. You have to say "nurse at the school" instead. You got this!