bethm214

I agree that all medical supplies must be locked up. The only things I allow to be under the camper's control is the actual insulin pump (with a letter from the physician that it is to remain with her at all times) and inhalers that come with MD orders for them to be self-carried but used under the supervision of an adult and reported to the medical staff as soon as feasable.

LOL. It is very ironic that Esme12 posted that link. That is the EXACT one I used!

Agree with everyone above saying YOU need to check. A camp I have worked for in the past routinely used EMT's to cover for nurses until I proved to them that they were not legally allowed to do so and were jeopardizing their credentials and causing themselves a medical liability. Good luck. I hope you find good answers to your situation.

I would NEVER put a new grad in a school nurse position. Kids go bad way too fast. An asthmatic can be dead if not properly assessed, likewise, a diabetic. Nursing school does way too little to prepare anyone for real nursing. Nursing is truly on the job training. New nurses need supportive environments where they are going to learn a lot and feel safe to ask questions and begin to see what all they don't know. I hope you will take the peds internship. It would be a much better place for you.

I agree with janfrn. Male nurses are most likely found in ER, ICU and psych. There are some in home care, some in camp nursing, some in clinic settings and few in general peds. There also seem to be a good number in traveling positions.

What I have learned in 31 years of peds nursing: Listen more than you talk. You MUST believe that the parents know their child best. If a parent says something isn't right, listen to them. Don't talk over them and tell them everything is fine. Be respectful and polite to everyone, even the most rude. The people that are the meanest and nastiest need our caring the most. Remember you will be an obligatory reporter. If something isn't right, make a report. And not just to your office manager. No one ever wants to be the snitch that opens a CPS case, but no one wants to hear about a child being beaten to death either. Smile at everyone. Especially when you don't feel like smiling. If you hear a word you don't know, go look it up. Learn something new every single day. Do not take part in office gossip, whether it be about a patient, a parent or a co-worker. Just leave the conversation or say you don't feel comfortable talking about that. LIkewise, do not share what you see at work with people outside of work. No matter how juicy it may be. Do something nice for an office member every day. Leave a nice thank you note, bring them a flower from your yard, send them a joke to their voice mail. Best of luck to you! Enjoy this new experience!!!!!

I have done 31 years as a peds nurse, primarily at Johns Hopkins. I think a good place to start is a general pediatric position in a hospital, maybe a small community hospital that has a small inpatient peds unit. I do not think homecare is a good place to start. Too much autonomy and not enough support. Likewise, I do not think acute peds is a good place to start as you really do still need to learn the basics of real life nursing. If you must take adults, a general med surg unit is a great place to learn adult basics. Real nursing is very different than nursing school and adults are very different than peds.....but, they all do have things in common. Best of luck to you.

I would love to see an update from you on how it is going. Personally, I would be very concerned about being the only nurse there if you are not yet experienced in ANY real life nursing and especially not experienced in pediatric nursing. Additionally, I would question the thought process of a camp director that hired a new grad to be the sole nurse at their camp, even if it is only a day camp. Asthma in the summer is a major issue, especially in the hot humid areas of the country. Allergic reactions are major issues. Home sickness is a major issue, but, if this is a day camp, that probably won't be a worry for you. Be aware of food allergies, bee sting allergies and know all your "specialties" such as those campers with diabetes, asthma, hemophilia, von willebrands, etc, by name and site. Good luck. As a peds nurse for 32 years and a camp nurse for about 20 years, I am nervous for you!

Although I am sure the job offer situation is over, I would still like to add my 2 cents here. In my opinion, no one should ever be a camp nurse without at least one year of pediatric nursing, preferably in a large hospital setting, under their belt. Children are not miniature adults. They will need different things than you can learn in any adult setting, even ER/ICU, or in school. Children need to feel that you are confident. That is what calms them. Good luck in whatever you have chosen for now!

I am sure it is not want you want to hear, however, I STRONGLY recommend that you do at least one year of pediatric nursing in a major hospital center. Children are definitely not miniature adults and their needs are very different. How you cope with a child's medical and/or emotional situation is significantly different than anything you would have learned in school or on an adult unit. Children need to feel your confidence. Don't short-change yourself or the children. Get the training you need before attempting camp nursing.

I created an MAR for our 4H camp. I enter our campers into a database then I use the merge function to auto fill in the MAR including the name, DOB, group name, allergies, date of last tetorifice, date of last PE, and has a spot to sign off lice check. The MAR has spots to fill in the routine meds and prn meds, and there is a section preprinted with the names of the camp nurses, all they have to do is add their signature and initials if they administer care to that camper.