Just hired as school nurse-scared!

I have been working in education and case management for the past 6 years. I just was offered a job as a school nurse. As I feel confident in the teaching, developing plans, staff education and such, I am very nervous about the assessment and clinical skills. I know that this is basis of nursing, but I haven't been in that part of nursing for 6 years. There are Health Assistants that handle most of the hands-on stuff, but they will be calling me with questions. I am a little nervous because these are kids. I don't want to make a mistake.
I'm wondering if I made a mistake. I would be the only school nurse for the entire school district. Help!
First of all, relax... you're in good company. There is a good sub section of this forum for school nurses specifically. http://allnurses.com/school-nursing/start by going there and perusing a few threads from nurses who have been in your exact same position. Then feel free to use that forum as a tool to reach out to us with questions you may have. We all usually check it pretty regularly -especially during the normal 10 month school year. On a more local level - look into joining your state's school nursing assoc. or the national assoc www.nasn.orgget to know a few school nurses in your area that you can call on if you need support. Good luck - i am sure it won't be as scary as you think

Wow - - One nurse for a district? Every school here has its own full-time RN. And so did the schools in the other 3 states where my kids went. Who gives the meds in those schools - especially prn meds?Any diabetics? Who interprets the blood sugars and the need for insulin or food?Please ask exactly what your responsibilities are.Best wishes!

The Health Assistants in each school do the med dispensing, insulin, etc. I would be in charge of educating the Health Assistants and they would call with any questions. Sounds like a big job!!

If you are nervous about the assessment skills, why not find a nursing textbook regarding head to toe assessment and start reading up? I'm sure you can find one for CHEAP on Amazon.com. You can probably find a good clinical skills book as well.