Are you considering becoming a School Nurse but unsure exactly what is entails? Let’s dive in to figure out if School Nursing is right for you!
What is School Nursing?
A School Nurse is a nurse that works at a school taking care of students. These nurses typically have had experience doing inpatient nursing, aka hospital nursing, and have transitioned to outpatient nursing through the school district. School nurses may be assigned only one school, or they may work for multiple different schools in the same district. School nursing is technically a specialized area in the field of public health, just like Home Health Nursing.
Patient Load
As a school nurse, your patient load is going to be different than a nurse working with acutely ill patients in the hospital setting. Most often, your patients are going to be healthy, attending classes and playing at recess. But as we know, accidents happen and when they do, the school nurse is there to take care of the kiddo. So while there isn’t an exact science as to how many patients a school nurse may take on at once, think about all the students attending one school, those are all patients of a school nurse.
School Nurse Job Description
School nurses not only attend to cuts and bruises from playground incidents, they help their students in many ways. According to the CDC, aka the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, school nurses, “help students and their families get access to health insurance, coordinate care by communicating between the family and health care providers, and educate families on what health care services are available to their child at school.” School nurses help to keep the absentee rate of students down by educating on various illnesses, when to stay home, and how to prevent the spread of infection. They also help treat chronic medical conditions, such as asthma, during flare-ups at school.
School Nurse Skills
School Nurse skills are going to be similar to that of a peds nurse as this is their entire patient population. These nurses need to be familiar with their kiddos, what chronic illnesses they may have, and what tools they have available to them to help treat their patients. They need to know what they can treat and what is out of their scope of practice, meaning they need to know when to notify the parents, patients primary care provider, or when to call 911. School nurses are able to give some medications, so they need to know the 10 rights of medication administration as well. They also do a lot of behind-the-scenes work making sure all their students are up to date on required vaccinations, their chronic medical conditions have been reported, and that they have specific treatments (such as an inhaler) for various kiddos in their office.
School Nurse Salary
School Nurses pay varies by state, location, and hospital. According to ZipRecruiter, school nurses in California on average make about $26.84 per hour, equating to $55,827 per year. Nationally, school nurses make about $61,852 per year.
So, What Makes a Good School Nurse?
A good school nurse is someone who is good with kids, patient, and kind. They are comfortable being responsible for many patients at once, even if they all aren’t all receiving urgent care. School nurses must have good bedside manner and great rapport with pediatric patients as this is who students are going to come to when there is an issue at school or even at home. School nurses must have a calm demeanor, a gentle touch, and know what to do in the event of an emergency.
Want to Know More…?
Are you interested in learning more about School Nursing? Head on over to the Specialty Nurse Interview Series to Meet Allie, a School Nurse!
Do you want to be a School Nurse? Comment below!
Trying to get a job? Visit the Landing Your Dream Job Series!
Looking into other nursing specialties? Follow along with the Specialty Nursing Series and the Specialty Nurse Interview Series!
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