What is the average salary package of a School Nurse?

The profession of a school nurse has a lot of opportunities to explore which will give you handsome salaries along with the satisfaction of serving the nation. The salary of a school nurse varies with experience, educational qualifications, industry and type of employment.

Apart from traditional salaries these professionals also enjoy added benefits and perks which include paid vacations, paid sick leaves, health and life insurance policies etc.

The average salary for a school nurse ranges around $27,000 and $65,000 annually.

The median salary of these professionals is $27, 058. While the 25^th percentile earns a salary up to $35,087, the 75^th percentile receives an income of $55,432 and the top school nurse earn a salary more than $65,926 annually.

Candidates with experience of 1 – 4 years earn a salary range around $33,868 – $68,401. And on the other professionals with more than 20 years of experience earn a salary ranging around $42,079 – $88,942 annually.

Salary varies with state too. school nurse employed in Texas earn a salary ranging around $38,500 – $75,000 while those employed in the state of New York earn a salary ranging from $38,743 – $80,549 per year.

What are the skills and abilities required for this profession?

Apart from theoretical knowledge, school nursing professionals are also expected to train themselves with certain skills which will prove helpful to shine in the profession. The following are some of the skills required for the profession of a school nurse:

v  Ability to listen: A school nurse must have strong listening skills in order to respond effectively and appropriately to her students problems. These professionals must have the ability to listen carefully to all the details and specifications of the student’s problem so that they can provide him with effective treatment necessary.

v  Sympathy and Caring towards the students: The school nurse professionals are most often charged to deal with young student patients who expect not only medical treatment but also a sympathetic and caring person to soothe then while treatment with kind words which would bring down their fear for the medical treatment. The school nurse should have the capability in her to ensure that her patients remain calm and tension free throughout the course of the treatment.

v  Excellent Organizational Skills: school nurse come across many children suffering with various kinds of problems on a daily basis. As such they should maintain proper school health records having a detailed study of the students’ health condition. For this purpose they should have organizational skills for responsibly completing incident reports and filing so that they can be referenced later when the need arises.

v  Problem Solving Mind: school nurse must be able to interpret explanations from the students’ medical descriptions determining the problem of the student and ways to deal with the issue. He must remain calm and solve problems with a critical approach. They must exercise professional judgment while making decisions.

v  Scientific Knowledge: This professional is expected to possess knowledge of a variety of medical conditions and treatments to ensure effective determination of illness of the student. They must be aware if the proper dosage procedures and potential medical side effects for the medication they prescribe. school nurse must use a scientific approach while fighting with any type of medication induced problems.

Other abilities of a school nurse are:

ü  Knowledge of the principles and practices of the nursing profession.

ü  Current trends in the nursing field.

ü  Computer literate.

ü  Excellent communication skills.

ü  Active participation in all kinds of school health related programs.

What are the important Duties and Responsibilities of a School Nurse Job?

A school nurse has a varied number of duties and responsibilities to complete. Following are some of the duties of this profession:

Duties:

• The primary duty of a school nurse is to provide health assessments sheets by obtaining the health history of the student, screening and evaluating their health pattern and indentifying their abnormalities in health findings.
• They are also in-charge of developing and implementing student plans to interpret the health status of the student to their parents and school personnel.
• school nurse are given the duty to design procedures to overcome any kind of emergency nursing injuries and illness.
• An important duty of a school nurse is to promote and assist the control of communicable diseases.
• It is the duty of these professionals to impart health education to students by briefing them about the anticipatory guidelines.
• They are given the duty to provide health counseling to students in order to assist the students and families in decision making on the students improvement of health and lifestyle.

Responsibilities:

The following are some of the responsibilities given to a school nurse:

• school nurse are responsible for maintaining, evaluating and interpreting health data in order to accommodate the health needs of the students.
• These professionals are expected to participate in health education programs which are conducted for the improvement of health conditions.
• They are given the responsibility to coordinate the working of school and community health activities serving as a health professional between home, school and community.
• school nurse are also engaged in research and evaluation of school health programs serving as agents to alter the health programs as and when needed.
• They take the responsibility of providing consultation to explain health policies, goals and objectives in the school premises.

š  To apply for certifications, the candidate must complete a minimum undergraduate course with an aggregate of 2.75 and above. Apart from educational skills, he should also complete training services in nursing, community health, health education or any other related field.

š  school nurse are expected to be certified and licensed after the completion of their college education. Only Registered Nurses will have the opportunity to apply for a job in educational institutions.

There are a number of certifications and licensure for a nurse which makes them eligible for a job in school. Choose the one that suits your education the best.

After the completion of your nursing diploma or degree, students must take the examination of National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN). This council is administered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). Once you have completed this test you are certified as a Registered Nurse (RN).

Before applying for certification and licensure, candidate must complete atleast three years of professional work experience as a school nurse before taking the exam. You can download a copy of the certification test from the NBCSN website.

Once you obtained your certification, you become eligible to work in private, public and charter schools, universities and colleges. One can start their job search with the state education board of education or with the local nursing association.

What are the educational requirements of a School Nurse Job?

Following are the educational requirements for the post of a school nurse:

• school nurse are expected to be Registered Nurses (RN) nurses so as to work in partnership with any kind of education institutions.
• A further educational requirement for a school nurse is the Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (ARPN).
• These professionals must acquire a bachelor’s or associated degree from any reputed accredited college of nursing
• On the other hand, to become obtain the position of a school nurse, one may also have completed a diploma in any nursing course offered by hospitals.
• The minimum requirement for being appointed as a school nurse however may vary from state to state. But bachelor’s degree remains the basic qualification for these professionals.
• A school nurse should have sufficient knowledge of pediatric problems, allergies, vaccinations in order to be a successful and a good school nurse surgeon.
• Majority of the practicing school nurse are educated as Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN).
• A person with high school diploma or any equivalent education can apply for this course. This course lasts for a year and is offered by many nursing schools, vocational training institutions and community colleges.
• Once you have successfully completed this program, you can apply for a license as a LPN.
• Internship done at college-level in an educational institution or under any reputed nursing agency will fetch you experience with a better understanding of the profession which would help you earn a higher pay salary.
• The career for a school nurse usually started as practical nurses of aides for professional nurses till they attain their certification.
• After the completion of their college education, these candidates may also attend workshops, conferences and training sessions which will help to improve the prospects of their employment.

An overview of the Job of a School Nurse:

school nurse are professionals who are specialized with the nursing career and appointed to take care of students and staff members of schools. These nurses look after students who require medical attention at circumstances when they are injured or suffer from acute illness problems. These professionals monitor the health conditions of students who suffer some any kind of chronic health conditions. Their primary tasks include treating patients by acting as care providers and interacting with them to give them moral support. They are the integral people in designing and managing the health care systems in educational institutions helping the authorities to cope in emergency situations. They also train other staff members to respond to emergency health situational problems. school nurse provide immunization and exclusive measures when students suffer with exposed communicable diseases during their classroom education. They also develop individualized plans for students suggesting methods to combat emergency action problems. school nurse may also provide medical help in and around the community of the school premises. These professionals work with common occurrences such as headaches, scrapes and bruises, stomach aches, nausea and vomiting.

Since the school environment has hundreds of children placed closely to each other, they form the prime breeding grounds for diseases and it spreads illness to the entire student population. As such, for this purpose school nurse are appointed to work towards preventing and controlling illness by educating the children on important ways to reduce the transfer of disease such as covering your mouth when you cough, not sharing food and drinks when you have fever etc. Thus, it forms the primary responsibility of a school nurse to provide quick treatment to different kind of patients and sending the students home or to the physician for further treatment. In a place where school nurse are employed, that educational institution will be well equipped to handle all kinds of basic injuries and illness. These nurses will also take care of the administering, cleaning and dressing of wounds. In some schools, school nurse are also appointed to conduct regular basic health tests which may include vision test, hearing test and routine check-ups. In short, this profession is closely related with the profession of medicine demanding a basic knowledge of all the first-aid requirements for all kinds of illness.