School Nurse

Overview

Hamilton County Schools, located in Chattanooga, TN, is working to ensure that all students thrive and experience a future without limits. We are committed to excellence for every student and are seeking outstanding leaders, teachers, support staff, and district employees who desire to make a difference in the lives of students. With nearly 75 schools, we are confident that you can find your place in Hamilton County.


Learn more about working for Hamilton County Schools at careers.hcde.org and get to know us and our strategic plan, Opportunity 2030.


The purpose of this job is to serve in a lead capacity in the promotion of health care and provision of medical assistance to students/staff of county schools.

Nurse pay is determined by both level of education and years of experience as a licensed nurse.


Responsibilities

• Acts in a professional, respectful, and welcoming manner at all times.
• Creates a customer-focused climate and provides quality services and support to school and other stakeholders.
• Complies with applicable district, state, and federal codes, laws, rules, regulations, standards, policies and procedures.
• Enhances the education process by maximizing the health and well-being of school-aged children and adolescents, with focus on prevention of illness/disability and early detection/correction of health problems.
• Provides direction, guidance, training and assistance to employees; troubleshoots and works to resolve problem situations; responds to employee problems/concerns.
• Dispenses approved and/or prescribed medications appropriately to students. Maintains appropriate medical records regarding all dispensation of medication.
• Develops and implements protocols and procedures for responding to student illness and injuries, including special intervention for occurrences of acute illness, severe injury, emotional disturbance, and communicable diseases: recommends modification of school programs to meet the health needs of the general and special populations; and assists in the continual evaluation of program effectiveness.
• Ensures compliance with established school health guidelines, safety and infection control procedures, and all other applicable laws, rules, regulations, standards, practices, policies and procedures; initiates any actions necessary to correct deviations or violations; follows safety procedures, utilizes safety equipment, and monitors work environment to ensure safety of students, employees, and other individuals.
• Provides routine and emergency medical care to students within the prescribed boundaries of training, certification, and applicable policies and procedures.
• Promotes and protects the optimal health status of students; works with well children and children with acute chronic illnesses, injuries, handicapping conditions, and developmental disabilities. Works with students to promote wellness.
• Observes students for developmental and health patterns during routine assessments and provides an initial diagnosis; identifies adverse health findings; interprets the health status of students to parents and school personnel; initiates referrals to parents, school personnel, and community health resources for intervention, remediation, and follow-through.
• Assists in the control of communicable diseases through audits of immunization records, early detection, surveillance, reporting of contagious diseases to appropriate persons/agencies, and proper disinfection.
• Coordinates referrals to outside health services.
• Participates directly and indirectly in health education for improvement of health by teaching persons to become more assertive health consumers and assume greater responsibility for their own health.
• Provides ongoing health counseling to students, parents, and school personnel; maintains, evaluates, and interprets cumulative health data to accommodate individual needs of students; participates in home visits to assess the family's needs as related to the child's health; provides direct health education and health counseling to assist students and families in making decisions on health and life styles that affect health.
• Provides instruction or recommendations regarding OSHA, CPR, and other health-related needs.
• Monitors inventory of department equipment and supplies; ensures availability of adequate materials to conduct work activities.
• Participates as health team specialist on the Assessment Team and/or IEP-Team for students with health disabilities.
• Supervises clinical observations/experience for nursing students.
• Communicates with supervisor, employees, other departments, school officials, school faculty/staff, students, parents, physicians, pharmacists, other medical/nursing professionals, social service agency personnel, health department personnel, community organizations, vendors, the public, state/federal agencies, outside organizations, and other individuals as needed to coordinate work activities, review status of work, exchange information, or resolve problems.
• Maintains current license as a RN after employment. Note: Failure to maintain the required District and State credentials may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment with HCDE.
• Communicates through the proper channels to keep supervisor and other appropriate personnel informed of impending problems or events of unusual nature.
• Follows established procedures for ensuring assigned areas are safe.
• Works collaboratively with school staff, students, parents, and other stakeholders.
• Attends work and arrives to work on time.
• Maintains confidentiality.
• Adheres to the Teacher Code of Ethics as defined by Tennessee Law.
• Operates a computer and other school office equipment to enter, retrieve, review or modify data.
• Operates a variety of equipment and instruments associated with school health work activities.
• May operate a motor vehicle to travel to various schools.
• Performs general/clerical tasks, which may include answering telephone calls, typing documents, making copies, sending/receiving faxes, filing documentation, or processing incoming/outgoing mail.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Knowledge/Education/Experience:

High school diploma or GED required. Four year degree with coursework emphasis in Nursing preferred; supplemented by three (3) years previous experience and/or training involving nursing, preferably in a school, pediatric, adolescent, or public health environment; or any equivalent combination of education, training, and experience which provides the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities for this job. Must possess and maintain licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN) in Tennessee. Must possess and maintain valid CPR and First Aid certification.


Skills/Qualifications:

• Demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills to deal effectively with students, educators, employees, community members, parents, and other stakeholders.
• Must possess and maintain a valid Tennessee nursing license or a compact state license.
• Ability to utilize a computer and other technology in order to enter and retrieve data.

Compensation:

Rate of pay for School Nurses is determined by both level of education and years of experience as a licensed nurse. All are based on the General Employee Salary Schedule.
LPNs are paid on grade 1010, starting at an hourly rate of $23.27
RNs are paid on grade 1013, starting at an hourly rate of $26.94
BSNs are paid on grade 1014, starting at an hourly rate of $28.85
MSNs are paid on grade 1015, starting at an hourly rate of $30.29