Health & Medical Newswire

I had the fantastic opportunity to work as a school nurse for five years. I found the work to be very challenging but also very rewarding. It’s a great specialty for nurses who enjoy working with children and teens. Being a mother, the position worked out well for me because my hours as a school nurse were the same as my kids’ hours in school.

Every school district has certain requirements and positions, and most districts have a limited number of nursing positions. Where I worked, school nurses were required to be RNs but some school districts hire EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians, also known as Paramedics) and LPNs (Licensed Practical Nurses) depending on what their budgets allow.

Being a school nurse can be great fun, layered with lots of responsibility. Your subjects are kids in kindergarten through the 12th grade, and some districts even have pre-K. Therefore, you need to be knowledgeable about the developmental milestones appropriate to your assignment. I say “assignment” because you rarely have a choice as to which age group you’ll be working with. Usually you are assigned to a school by the district leaders.

As a school nurse, one of your responsibilities is the maintenance of student health records, including vaccination requirements. There are mandated records each district needs to maintain. Medications are administered from the nurse’s office for all students requiring daily medication. You will likely treat many chronic illnesses, like asthma, allergies, and a host of developmental disabilities. If you end up working in a high school or middle school, you may be also responsible for arranging sports physicals and clearing students to play.

Many times, it is the school nurse who first picks up the signs and symptoms of an illness that requires medical attention. I remember a little girl, in the 3rd grade, who had symptoms of juvenile diabetes, and so I instructed her mom to follow up with her doctor. After the diagnosis was confirmed, she needed to learn to self inject insulin and monitor her blood sugar. The child and her mom were both very scared and nervous. I worked with them for months and taught them how to manage this disease. I still see the mother around town, and she tells me that her daughter, now all grown up, is doing very well. As a school nurse, you do make a difference. Teaching health practices on an individual level is a very important aspect of the position.

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