Camp Nurses - Please Introduce Yourself Here.

[nightingale]

At someones suggestion, to introduce herself, this thread was started. I will start:

I was a Camp Nurse in 2000 at a private camp in upstate New York in the Birkshire Mountains. I was there for a month and had a so so time but my kids did have a wonderful experience. My duo, now 17 and 15, share wonderful memories of that summer.

I hope we can here from others with current experiences as well. Where are y'all going this summer? Or, are you there already.

Please take some time in introducing yourself. Let me know if you want other "Stickey's" or what we can do to modify this Forum to make it more interesting for you.

[realnursealso/LPN, LPN]

Hi everyone, I am a camp nurse, but I work at a camp that goes during the school year. It is an environmental camp. The children come to this camp through the school year for a week at a time, sometimes for 3 days or 2, depending on what the school district allows. They attend with their teachers, and sometimes parent chaperones. It is my primary job, with homecare nursing at a local agency when we are closed. The seasons are September to December 1st, or the last day your site has children booked. This camp also employs teachers, who work there too. Our teachers all have bachelor degrees. Room and board is provided plus a substantial salary. The spring season starts in March, and goes til the end of June. I will be returning the 12th of March. The days are long, I have to be in the dinning hall at 730am, and the day ends at 930pm. But through all those hours I am only working hard before and after meal times and before bed. Of course I fix alot of boo boos during the day, we get some I have a tummy ache or headache, and give tlc for homesickness, or just a hug at times. The rest of the day I am free to surf the net on my laptop ( free wireless), sit on the porch of the Inn, read, or just enjoy the beautiful view out the window at my desk. It is such a fun job. Never gets boring because the groups change every week. I am off every weekend, and work Monday thru Friday. I am divorced, my children are grown, and I live with my elderly parents when I am home which allows me to have this job, it wouldn't work for people with small children, or who are in a relationship. Just wanted to share about my fun nursing job, I love it. I do enjoy this topic because I have read and learned alot from here. I run up against the same types of things that typical summer camp nurses do. The company I work for has 14 sites in New England and one in New York. All the sites are in established camps that are closed during the school year. I just can't tell you how happy I am with this job,in all my 27 years of nursing I think I am enjoying this job the most. I finished my first season the day before Thanksgiving, and am no longer the new nurse when I return in March. If anyone has specific questions you can pm me, don't want to break the rules, but I am so happy with this job I had to share. :monkeydance: :nuke:

[dragonheart, MSN]

I am registered nurse who has practiced nursing since 1974 :

Cardiac Critical Care, Respiratory ICU-(open heart, heart, liver/kidney transplantation, surgical )Military Health care as orthopedics staff, Medical-Surgical /critical care , charge nurse ambulatory care center, Infection Control nurse, clinic nurse Chinhea, Korea,Charge Nurse aboard USNS Comfort -Operation Restore Hope) Data Quality and Knowledge Management Director ,Naval Medical Information Center

Health Supervisor/Camp Nurse (four years)

I earned my BSN form the Univ of Pgh 1974, MN Univ , Respiratory Clincial Nurse Specialist, Pgh 1980

Hold certifications: Informatics Nursing, Project Management and Knowledge Management

Currently licensed to practice nursing in Pennsylvania and Maryland

Recently I have accepted a position of Health supervisor for Day and Resident Camps

I would like to establish a resource and collegial reference source base within the specialities of camp nursing and informatics through allnurses.com for instance:

I am reviewing camp regulations and guidelines and have the following questions

Specific to MD, VA and the District of Columbia is the trend for physicians to write prescriptive standing orders for tylenol, topical/oral benadryl,ibuprofen, and neosporin or towards self-medication with adult oversight (at campers unit)

The prescriptive authority would be for medications listed on the health history/emergency authorization form . Medication and immunization history is requested as well as camper's weight and height

If the camper self-medicates as with inhalers would the same prescribing physician serve as the prescriptive/standing order source of each camper?

What are being used as adult:child ratios for day and resident camps

campers ranging in age from 5-12 years of age

campers 3-4 years of age (parents are unit leaders/ on site)

Girl Scouting for instance uses ratios specific to age , activity(high adventure) group meeting

[CampMedic]

hello, i wanted to tell fellow camp nurses about a free service called passportmd and as it relates to camp nursing, http://www.campmedic.com. passportmd is an award winning free electronic health record service started several years ago. http://www.campmedic.com is powered by passportmd's software and will include everything that camp nurses outline as important in the health history, including medications, dosages, frequencies, allergies, to meds and foods, shots and immunizations, medical conditions, doctor contact info and even doctor's actual notes..etc etc...users are taken through an easy to use 10 step wizard that builds this information for them and then the user can print it off in a simplified , organized and easily viewable format. we as camp nurses should understand that this is free as it is really a valuable service that is important and that treats all campers and camp nurses equally without a cost issue whatsoever. additionally, this info remains safe and secure and can be accessed online only via password, which depending upon the parents or the camps, if this is a preferred method to retrieve the info, than this can be shared with the camp nurses...

i am told that the http://www.campmedic.com site will be available in 2 weeks with all the summer camp customizations. i wanted to share this information with fellow camp nurses as i am sure they share similar support for our cause, that is providing this type of service for free to campers. as we all care for camper's health and making camp nursing easier and better, i wanted camp nurses to tell their camps or their campers about it, before summer camp. it can be used and created minutes before a camper goes to camp, and i believe, can really make a difference in the life and health of a camper.

[truRN]

I am taking on a position as camp nurse for a camp based on diversity. I have been an RN since 1977 and have lots of experience, but not with kids. This program has never had a nurse before, so I anticipate having to set up protocols, etc. I have purchased the book on Camp Nursing (can't think of the name). I was wondering about the need for Liability Insurance.

[campnurse]

Hi I have been a camp nurse for many years and love it. Working at a co-ed sleepaway camp gives me the opportunity to treat children and staff of all ages. Our camp has 4 RN's and a full time MD. We are 12 miles away from a great hospital. I never feel isolated. Working in an camp is different and exciting, there are no two days alike. There is always something unual happening. I think that sharing ideas and work historys with the other nurses bonds us. We work shifts, but we all always help each other when the need arises. Communication just flows. Camp takes you to another level of work. No cooking, cleaning, planning schedules for your kids, no food shoping and no driving the kids to activites. We have drivers at camp that take the kids to appointments and to the hospital if necessay. I think that anyone who has the time and camp age children should give it a try.My favorite activites are swimming and ceramics and I get to do them daily. It is heaven, call me if you want any adivce. I love to talk about camp. lori 646-670-8944

[campnurse]

Your job sounds great, where are the camps located? I might like to try it next year. Are your housing provisons comforatable? Can you bring a mate? lor

[nurse 1000]

I have been a camp nurse for 5 years and love camp nursing, the best part is my kids go for free. The camp is in CT, does anyone work in CT

[lynswim]

I have been a camp nurse for years, mainly in NC. I just love being outside :) I don't have kids, but I consider all the campers "mine"!

[Seemoni]

Hello all. I will be heading to Minnesota this summer to work as a staff nurse at what sounds like an amazing language camp. I worked at camps for a few years during college and have always loved them but not in this capacity and last year I volunteered for a week as a camp nurse to help a friend (the director) out. I'm very nervous and excited. I got my RN license over a year ago and I worked for 6 months in mental health but I decided to take time off and volunteer in Brazil, not as a nurse. I'm finishing up 8 months away from nursing and am a bit anxious about returning. I hope my time at camp will bring back my confidence and give me time to brush up on my skills. After camp I'm going to be tying to get into an ER internship program, I worked as an ER tech and loved it and really want to get back there. I'll be back here looking for some help no doubt, as the summer progresses. Happy tick-less summers!

[wolochee]

This is year #3 for remote lake camp for coed Camp Fire Camp. Been an RN for 4 1/2 years with broad range of skill sets. Current job as clinic administrator for a medical free clinic. Per Diem camp jobs in summer.

I love the web site and all the networking with the specialty nursing areas.

[medanthroNP]

Hello,

I have been a camp nurse for four plus years, two years at each camp until this summer. I was at the Skylark summer position, but it was very different from previous experiences. I think that this position would be great for a very new graduate who is content to depend on the decision making of the director of the camp. There is an unusal amount of lifting for a summer camp nurse position: On the first day of camp I was handed about 20 sleeping bags to wash, about 5 32 gallon bags of clothes to wash, and then asked to use a professional size mop to mop the Health Center and this continued to be a large part of the job (that I could have done in my younger years, but I found it much to swing the professional size mop). This said, the kids are wonderful and I loved getting the little notes and cards to thank me for my efforts.

Again, the kids are great and the need for a nurse is real. The camp has previously used EMTs, with a greater dependence upon the director's decisions and this could be a great opportunity for a new nurse graduate. The activities are horse back riding, high ropes, beach activities, and other Girl Scout activities.

[CareBearnurse]

Hello to all,

I am about to complete my first year as the only nurse at a Girl Scout summer camp. I'm the only one during my weeks to work, but split the time with another nurse. Our camp averages about 120 campers each week, with a capacity of 180. This is the first year this camp has had RNs for a Health Supervisor position, and we are still working out some issues. While I love the job, I don't think I could do it each week all summer long. I am on 24/hrs a day, no time off, until Fridays at about 4pm, and back on Sunday at 9:30 am. If I've had an unusual amount of night times calls during the week, I'm drained by Friday. So I'm glad to share the time, with another nurse. I will be posting some questions we have about this job to the forums for some help. Glad to meet all of you, and look forward to 'talking' with you.