School nurses working at summer camp?

centralmnmom · Aug 2, 2011

I have never been a school nurse but watching ours care for over 400 at our elementary, I am impressed. She knows their names, behaviors and does alot of nodding and listening. She has the biggest smile and can work the room of asthmatic, scraped, controlled diabetic and principal with finesse. She quickly can reassure and calm just by her demeanor. It appears to be a lot of icepacks, ice cream pails, bandaids and verbalsupport. Not to mention those who need a little hand holding, and more reassurance. She had >15 fatal allergies to odd foods like peaches! But mostly, she was a coach to those with diabetic pumps and inhalers.

I was a camp nurse to 8 nursing students at a facility with developmentally and mentally challenged folks. It was a wide variety of feeding tubes, foley, suprapubic cath care and SUNBURNS /bites/scrapes...then the occasionally near-drowning. The med pass was a good learning experience for all of us when dispensing no less than 5 drugs. Hopefully, with childrens summer camps, it would be less involved.

Hey Camp Nurses!
Just wondering how many of you camp nurses out there are school nurses during the school year, and camp nurses in the summer. I'm starting as a school nurse in a couple weeks and I may want to work at a summer camp next summer, and definitely when I have kids (to trade my work for camp tuition- it can be very expensive!) To those fo you who are school nurses: what are the main similarities and differences between the two settings? I would expect that school nursing prepares one very well for camp nursing.
And, to all you camp nurses: how much do you enjoy it? how stressful is it? Is the job generally easy to get? (I know a lot of new grads who were hired right away as camp nurses with no previous exp.) Please share about what experience you have elsewhere (I know that camp nurses come from all specialties). Also if you don't mind, please share your compensation.
Thanks!

*LadyJane* · Aug 10, 2011

I did a short assignment for a girl's camp for at-risk teens. I volunteered my services, and all the staff were volunteers also. Much of the food and supplies used were donated, also. This camp is free to the girls, who are referred by social workers, schools, and foster families. Most of the girls were living in foster homes and were victims of some kind of abuse or neglect.

I did med pass about 5 times per day, because different girls were on various schedules with their meds. I also was responsible for taking care of about 35 staff. I had one threatened anaphylaxis case, this was an adult who knew what to do for herself, and recognized the signs, I stayed with her until she was stabilized, and monitored another with a major chronic illness. The kids received first aid, bandaids, sunscreen, bug bite itch relief, and OTC pain relief. The most scary for me was a girl who said she thought her hip was dislocated. (It wasn't).

It was a really wonderful experience, everyone worked together to make sure that the girls all had a great and safe time. Oh, the psychologist couldn't make it to camp and so I was available for psych nursing as needed. We never had any sort of crisis that I needed to deal with. I did lots of hand-holding, therapeutic communication, and lots of support and encouragement.

I enjoyed this work very much, I also helped out in the kitchen, and as wait staff when I wasn't busy with meds. I plan on going back next year.

btw, I was treated like a real VIP. I understood that their regular nurse couldn't make it, and that if they couldn't find a RN to volunteer, the organization would have had to cancel the camp! Everyone was super happy that I was there, and I was happy to be of service to such a nice group. :nurse: :yeah:

Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B · Sep 12, 2011

I worked at a co Ed residential camp this summer, typical children no special needs. We had a staff of six nurses who lived on camp, and then some local part timers. Two of our nurses were school nurses. They were big assets especially when it came to setting up camp, school nurses have alot of expearance with large volumes of paperwork. They could handle a croud and were reliable in emergencies. One nuses described camp as school nursing on speed. The only issue is that they didn't deal well with some of the inherent chaos of camp. But that can be said of some of the not school nurses as well. Camp is a little different then most other settings, nurses work around camp, not vic versa. Camp nursing isn't for everyone bt if you think your interested in it I recomend giving it a try. It seems ready made for school nurses who have the summer off anyhow.

I enjoyed camp nursing a lot, I do high tech pediatric home care so it was different for me working with typical children. Camp is as stressful as you make it, if you want everything perfect your gonna loose some hair. You have to pick your battles. As I said before my camp had six live ins two school nurses, myself and another nurse with a year of home care, and two less experienced one had had a few imnuizatiin clinic gigs, the other ran a home care company (adult senior care). The less expearenced nurses caught the job pretty quick, it was the details like signing for meds, and not charting (things new nurses seem to think are not as important) that ran them afoul of the school nurses. If an inexpearenced person is willing to learn and try hard they will have no trouble. I made $5500 for a six week contract, the RNs made more, I was the only LPN.

lsvalliant · Sep 21, 2011

I work for an agency who has staffed me in both the camp nurse and school nurse roles. I loved camp nursing and worked for the salvation army. Normally I think it pays about 6500 for six weeks, but I was making alot more being from an agency on short notice. Camp nursing has alot more serious stuff going on. I had a kid who self injected himself with his own epi-pen from the councelors back pack for no reason, a broken arm, a stomach flu outbreak, dislocations, etc. School nursing for me is just a bunch of whinny kids wanting to get out of class for a papercut and also I feel bogged down with all the paperwork and forms. It was not for me, but I would do camp again in a heart beat.

blue bag nurse · Oct 18, 2011

That's what I do.....school nurse for 10 months, camp nurse for 2. Same job, but at camp, they don't go home at night! I love going to camp and taking my kids to camp. School nursing enables me to do that, which is pretty much the only reason I have that job. I like it, love it on some days, but the main reason I am a school nurse is so I can be a camp nurse. No other job will give me summers off!