Requirements

School Nurse Certificate Program Requirements

1. Current license as a Registered Professional Nurse in New Jersey
2. Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university (minimum GPA of 3.0)
3. Current CPR/AED certification
4. General education courses

   45 semester credits in general background areas including at least four of the following: fine and practical arts; social studies; mathematics; science; philosophy; psychology; English; foreign language

5. Foundation courses

   Courses which should have been taken during B.S./B.A. program:

   • Sociology of Childhood and Adolescence (3 credits)
   • Community Health Nursing (Nursing IV) (3 credits)
   • Community Health Practicum (Nursing IV) (3 credits)
   • Introduction to Psychology (3 credits)

6. Human relations/intercultural elective - 3 credits

The following courses are examples of intercultural electives:

African-American History; The Psychology of Minority Groups; Racial and Ethnic Minorities in America; Urban Sociology; Poverty and Urban Environmental Systems; History of the Ghetto and American Studies; Cultural Geography; Civilizations and Heritages; Transcultural Health and Diversity; and other courses as approved by the program director

7. The following courses will be completed as a part of the school nurse certification curriculum.

School nurse certification core courses:

• Care Coordination in the School Health Office (3 credits)
• Issues and Trends in Health Education (3 credits)
• School Nurses as Population Health Leaders (4 credits)
• 21st-Century School Nurse Practicum (3 credits)
• 21st-Century School Nurse Seminar (3 credits)

8. Student teaching
   

   The student teaching and the school health office clinical experience will take place while taking the 21st-Century School Nurse Practicum and 21st-Century School Nurse Seminar courses. School nurse certification program students will be placed in a school setting with a certified school nurse preceptor. The student will receive careful mentoring and guidance from the certified school nurse. The course professor will work with certified school nurses in selecting, monitoring, and evaluating all student clinical experiences in the school setting and community partner experiences.
   

   The practicum experiences consist of a total of 180 hours and are separated into the following:

   Traditional student/fall practicum:

   • Minimum of 90 hours in the school health office/fall clinical placement
   • 45 hours with community partner
   • 35 hours of providing formal health education in classroom setting
   • 10 hours observation in classroom setting

   Nontraditional students/summer-fall practicum

   This is a student who is working full time in a school district and has received an emergency certification.

   • Minimum of 30 hours in the school health office/summer clinical placement
   • 60 hours in their school health office supported by supervisor evaluation
   • 45 hours with community partner
   • 35 hours of providing formal health education in classroom setting
   • 10 hours of observation in classroom setting