Initial Health Screenings

What type of camp do you work at? How many sessions per summer? (And BTW, your questions are definitely not stupid!)

Seems like you have two questions here.

First, how do I handle first-day check-ins? I get 100-130 new campers each week. I "process" them with the help of one other administrative staff member. I ask all the questions and discuss all the medications; the other person is someone who's trained to check for lice. Move 'em in, move 'em out, spend more time with the ones who come with a medical condition or illness or special diet or medication. I would not have anyone do this; the counselors wouldn't know where to begin, even if they had some training during precamp. I adapted my camp's check-in policy based on what I found in The Basics of Camp Nursing. And the screening is very simple, based on the idea that children are just spending a week at camp. We've sometimes had short-term nurses who don't really "get" camp, who think they're in a public health position. It's not our place. I give advice and help on anything that comes up (quite a bit of meds education), patch them up while they're there, sometimes call their parents if I'm concerned.

Your second issue: I think you're talking about "cutting", or self-mutilation? My guess is that the counselors (I was one myself for many years) think of the nurse more as a "first-aider" and don't realize the mental health training we have. The staff probably thought of this girl as a camper with an emotional problem--and they think of that as their domain. Yes, you should know these things; you're probably the most-trained person in the camp in mental health. Make sure people know that (that you have training, that is, not that you're the "best trained"). Tell the counselors that you're available for those campers.

Have you read the Basics of Camp Nursing book? It's really good. I've found several older camp nursing books as well, but Basics is the best. You mention that "you're paid to do a certain job"--I'd be interested to hear what you see as your job at camp.