Registered School Nurse And Ambuance Critical Care Nurse 

(Female, Age 37) from Glendale, AZ

This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 37 who works as a Registered School Nurse And Ambuance Critical Care Nurse in Glendale, AZ. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.

At a Glance

Current Job

Basic data on your current job

Job Title Registered School Nurse And Ambuance Critical Care Nurse
Salary $50,000
Other Compensation None Set
Hours/Week
Company Size (not answered)
Location Glendale, AZ
Years Experience 2 years

Career Ratings

Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)

Years in Career 0
Education (not answered)
Income Rating 0 / 10
Interest Rating 0 / 10
Work-Life Rating 0 / 10
Fulfilment Rating 0 / 10

Current job Q&A

Describe the type of organization you work for.
The public middle school I work for has approximately 950 students and 100 staff members for which I am the only health care provider. The ambulance company I work for serves the entire Phoenix Metropolitan area. For the ambulance, I provide critical care treatment and monitoring to the entire age spectrum.

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
School – I provide general first aid and emergency assessments and care as the situation warrants. My duties extend anywhere from handing out bandaids and ice packs to assessing life threats and mobilizing emergency services. I also am responsible for conducting hearing and vision screening, making sure all immunizations are up to date and administering medications. For the ambulance, I monitor and transport patients with IVs, ventilators, drug therapy, suctioning, etc. to other health care facilities in the Phoenix area. I work for the ambulance part time.

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
Full medical, vision, dental, life and death insurance, 10 vacation days/yr,, 10 sick days/yr., state mandate retirement plan.

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
Because I provide teaching and go the extra mile for my students, I feel that because of my emergency skills that I am underpaid at the school.

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
I work directly with school administrative staff, students, parents and, at times, other heatlh care professionals at the school. On the ambulance I work with children and adults of all ages, parents, other health care professionals and the general public.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 1
Benefits: 3
Hours: 2
Co-Workers: 6
Supervisors: 7
Job Title: 5
Level of Responsibility: 8
The Actual Work: 4

A day in the life of…

Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:

5am to 6am
6am to 7am
7am to 8am I drop off my daughter at school and arrive at work at approximately 7:45am. I open my office blinds, turn on the computer and walkie talkie and look at my list of “to do’s” for the day. Today is hearing and vision screening day so I have arrived early by 30 minutes.
8am to 9am I make contact with the school librarian to set up the library and make sure all necessary equiptment is in place (extension cords, schedules, water, donuts, etc.). I meet and greet nurses from the district screening team, show them where the library is, help them to set up, offer the donuts and water and show them where the bathroom is. I explain how the day will run and make sure all volunteers are in place and oriented. I return to my office and put a “Blood, Barf and Bones only today!” notice on my door and ask the principal to say such on the announcements.
9am to 10am I am back in my office checking my e-mail, voicemail, administering morning medications to 2 students. I answer a phone call about a student absence and forward it to attendance, receive immunization records from a parent and record them in the computer and file. I walk back to the library to check on how the day is running and answer any questions that arise. I then return to my office with the completed screening cards.
10am to 11am In my office I record the completed screening cards in the computer and file them in the student folders. I assist the facility maintenance manager with his cut and bleeding thumb by washing the wound, applying Bactine and placing gauze and a bandiad on his thumb. I take the temperature of a student complaining of a stomach ache and light headedness, offer her water and allow her to rest. Her fever does not decrease and I sent her home with her mother. I return to the library for a status check and return with more cards to input.
11am to 12pm Upon return to my office, I find 2 other students needing care. One has a sore throat and headache. I take a temperature reading, have them gargle with salt water and rest. The other needs saline solution for her contacts. I continue to enter cards. I receive a visit from my newest nursing supervisor checking on how the day is running. I give her a tour of the main offic and the library after telling the front office to monitor my office a few moments. She soon leaves after determining that all is organized and I do not need her assistance.
12pm to 1pm I take lunch after check on the screening team during their lunch. I leave campus after placing my med cabinet keys in the care of the front office technician. I return after 30 minutes, full on a chicken sandwhich. I again check the screening process and receive more cards to input and file then I return to my office. I administer medications to 4 mores students one of which checks her blood sugar and gives herself insulin based on my calculation.
1pm to 2pm I receive a student with a nose bleed and instruct them to gauze over their nose while pinching their nostrils together until the bleeding stops. After five minutes, the student is better and is instructed to wash his hands in the bathroom while a write a pass to return to class. I receive another student who needs a feminine pad as she is on her monthly cycle and I hand out an ice pack to a student who smashed 2 fingers in a locker in PE. I complete my hourly check in the library. All is going very well and the screening process is almost done. I return again with cards to my office and attempt to input them.
2pm to 3pm I receive a call on my walkie talkie to take the wheelchair to the stairs as a student has fallen. I grab my emergency bag and proceed to the stairs. Once there I find a student sitting at the bottom complaining of ankle pain. I carefully remove her shoe, assess the injury, apply a splint and receive assistance from the school resource officer to help her into the wheelchair. I elevate her leg and wheel her to my office. She is able to hop on one leg to a cot where I elevate her leg, apply an ice pack and call her parents. The arrive soon to pick her up and I have her back in the wheelchair to take her to the car. I return to my office, complete an incident report and chart her visit. I make another visit to the library. The screening is completed and I assist the clean-up process.
3pm to 4pm I close the blinds, turn off all electronics and leave by 3:30pm. I pick up my daugher from school at 3:45pm and head home. That is the end of my work day. The rest of the night is filled with helping with homework, dinner, chores, exercising, playing a game and going to bed.
4pm to 5pm Bills, helping with homework
5pm to 6pm Dinner
6pm to 7pm News, exercise, relax
7pm to 8pm Play a game with daughter
8pm to 9pm Work on training outline for upcoming safety class at after school program.
9pm to 10pm Iron scrubs for next work day. Look online for available ambulance shifts on the weekend.
10pm to 11pm Bedtime.
11pm to 12am

Table of Contents

How you got your job

How did you get your current job?
School-It was my former school district so it was natural for me to apply there. The ambulance-It is the largest ambulance company in the state and has a good reputation so it was easy for me to decide to work t here.

What was the application process?
I submitted a formal resume’ to both positions and underwent a formal interview with screening of my nursing skills.

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
Yes. I had one interview per job but the interviews involved case scenarios-What would you do if? -to test my nursing skills/judgement. I interviewed with 2 head nurses for the school and one supervisory nurse for the ambulanc.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
I was asked “what would you do if? type questions, medication questions, how I would go about perferming certain skills and why I though I’d be a good candidate for the position.

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
No-I learned most of it on my own for both jobs. Much of nursing is learing from experience and doing the job. This was not different.

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
I attended 6 hours of training by watching and being instructed by another school nurse in her office. The rest I learned on my own, from trial and error and from required meetings. For the ambulance, I had to ride on 5 shifts on an ambulance with another nurse showing me what to do-after that I was on my own.

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes-by the time I started in both of these positions, I had been a nurse over 10 years and pretty well knew what I was doing. Initially though, I felt very unprepared as a new grad.

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
N/A

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
I would suggest they volunteer within the field such a candy striper, etc. They need to make sure they have good grades and research nursing schools. They need to research the career as much as possible and get their pre-requisites in college completed prior to applying for nursing school.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
An individual pursuing a nursing a degree would need to have great interpersonal skills, like working for and caring for people and be dedicated, goal driven and must know how to separate and not take work home or to take it too personally. This individual would need to be organized and be able to be a good multitasker. This individual would need such skills as nursing is a very challenging career, although rewarding, that requires a quick thinking and autonomy.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Definately. A nursing degree is needed plus continuing education (CEUs) specific for the nursing specialty. Much of nursing is learning as you go in the field.

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Be patient and take deep breaths frequently. Enjoy what you do and find your niche in the field.

Long-term career plans

Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
Yes. I don’t see myself leaving the school anytime soon. I am very happy there. The ambulance is part time and I use it mainly to pick up extra income around the school job given the lower salary as a school nurse. I don’t see myself continuing the ambulance job as it is difficult for me to attend the required training which usually takes place during my school day and because I had a surgeon who was negligent when performing an ligament reconstruction of my ankle. Unfortunately, I am not sure my ankle will support the heavy lifting/bending work of an ambulance nurse much longer.

What are your current career goals?
I would like to expand my training company and start traveling during the breaks and summer providing safety training across the country. I would like also to train more schools, continue attending safety fairs, parades and community events to expand, grow and market my company (which grew out of my home care company after I closed that company). I am very focused on helping to save lives through education and prevention.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
I truly enjoy what I do and it took me almost 10 years into my career as a nurse to feel that way. I have finally found my niche and enjoy all aspects of how I use my career. I feel that it isn’t always about the “big bucks” but about personal and professional satisfaction which hopefully can include enjoyment of what a person does for a living.

Prior work history

Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:

Title Length Salary Description
Prior Job 1 Owner/President/CEO 2 years 37000 I purchased this company from my previous employer and had extended duties such as maintaining taxes and insurances, terminating employees/clients, being the sole individual on-call 24/7, maintaining and providing all training and records, maintaining all records of certifications, managing office staff, attending meetings and social events within the industry, marketing and teaching staff CPR/AED, First Aid, and workplace safety as an instructor.
Prior Job 2 Nursing Director/Supervisor 6 37000 Hiring, training, staffing/scheduling new employees, maintaining records on certifications, conducting employee reviews, billing and payroll preparation, starting new clients, monitoring medications, monitoring client information folders and providing updates as needed, working shifs as needed if no caregivers were available, resolving disputes, being on-call 24/7, attending training and providing employee feedback/acting as a resource.

Educational background

Please list your educational background:

High School GPA:3.5

GPA School Degree
College (Undergraduate)
or Technical/Vocational
3.5 Glendale Community College AA, BSN
Graduate or Professional
(Masters or Doctorate)
3.5 Arizona State University West BSN

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