School nurse perspectives of challenges and how they perceive success in their professional nursing roles.

This is a phenomenological study of 25 school nurses employed in a large, urban school district in the midwestern section of the United States. In addition to school nursing, the participants also had professional work experience in other nursing specialties. Thematic analysis of the data focused on the challenges faced by the school nurses, their views of school nursing success, and elements of job satisfaction. Overall, the school nurses reported the positive aspects of school nursing outweigh the negative aspects of their jobs. Developmental changes were reported among the school nurses in this study as they reflected on how they perceived their nursing career over time and during different seasons of their lives.