After teacher layoffs, Medford hiring school nurses

He said a contract with a local nursing union requires him to fill the vacancies left by two nurses who retired this year.

The department is advertising for a full-time position at Medford High School that pays between $40,000 and $60,000, and a part-time elementary position that pays about 60 percent of that.

Belson said that once an ad appears in the Globe on Sunday, health supervisor Eileen DiBattista will start reviewing resumes. The department hopes to hire replacements quickly.

“If we find someone we like, we may not wait more than half a day (to make an offer),” Belson said, adding that candidates should have a proven ability to work with special needs children.

“We have youngsters coming to school with complex medical issues,” Belson said. “We have youngsters coming to school with do not resuscitate orders, feeding tubes, intravenous lines.”

The department will list between 15 and 20 additional job notices this summer, according to Belson. Openings include several administrative jobs, a math and science coordinator, and an alternative learning coordinator.

Belson thinks the department will find nurses soon, despite a well-documented nursing shortage.

“It’s not easy to get nurses,” he said. “But a lot of people come in and say, ‘I like the hours. I like the set-up. I can have my summers off, and I can work in a school setting.”