I just got a hired as a School Nurse! Great, I have a job in my chosen field.
But this is just the beginning. For you see, I'm not a school nurse, not until I meet certain qualifications. A Certified School Nurse is a credential, like a teaching credential. I'm sure you all had friends who took the CBEST and taught for up to 5 years on what was called an emergency credential. This is similar, I've applied for a temporary-temporary credential through the County Office of Education which, if you meet the minimum qualifications, you can get right there . It's good for 1 year while the state processes a background check. Once done your temporary credential will be issued to you good for 5 years while you are in a School Nurse credential program. Since there aren't in a 100 mile radius, I found one online at Fresno State which I can apply to next March. In the meantime, I'm taking the classes I need to get a Public Health Nurse License at a local college. Y'all know I'm no slacker, I've already ordered 4 school nursing textbooks and started reviewing my pediatric notes from Semester 2.
What's next?
Public Health Nurse Certificate for ADNs
This organization has some great classes that I would like to take; child abuse detection, alcohol and chemical dependency, aging and long term care classes. Unfortunately, they did not renew their agreement with the CA BON because they didn't get enough nurses taking the classes to make it worth their while. If you are interested, take a look and email them that you'd like for them to renew their license so you can benefit from these great classes.
