Time off for the sole camp nurse

[smiley321]

Hello!

I have just completed my third year of nursing and am absolutely loving it. This summer I will be working at a summer camp for four months, in the position of the camp health officer. I did this job last summer at the same camp and have been attending this camp for 10 or so years as both camper and staff, so I am very familiar and comfortable with how everything runs.

I will be the ONLY medical personnel on the island, while all the other staff have at least standard first aid and some level of swimming. The camp is on an island and the nearest hospital is an 8 to 10 minute boat ride away. As I mentioned before I did this job last summer and loved it, however there were times I was so burnt out and exhausted. Yes there are days when the hours just drag on, but other days there's so much to do (always at once of course!) that my head is spinning all day: lineups waiting for daily meds, scrapes and bruises, while one or more campers are inside waiting to go to the hospital for various reasons, while trying to arrange their transportation, and call the parents before they go... don't get me wrong I do love the job but at times it can be madness! Part of my job is to supervise the lifeguard, who I asked to help me out with numerous things when it got too busy. The problem is that asking for that help was often a last minute request, as it's not part of their job.

My question is, is anyone else is this situation, being the only healthcare staff and needing more support? What did you do? I do have a radio so am able to get out of the centre once in a while, and I do plan to make use of the lifeguard a little more this summer (as in make it part of their job!). What else can I do? I don't feel I can close the healthcare centre but there are times I just need an hour to myself, without being on call. As well, I feel at times thats others think my job is to sit around all day and therefore I don't need relief.

Thanks!

PS. All staff including myself get one evening (5 hours) off every two-week session, and 48 hours off between sessions.

[smurfynursey]

I was in the same situation last summer, though not on an island. My suggustion would be to look at the job description and see who they would hire...At my camp, the Health care manager (HCM) should have been an RN, but also could have been a LPN or EMT. Also, look at who you can delegate to. We had the nurse at my sister camp quit, and as such the director was the designee for passing meds. You can also delegate to a certain extent but that gets iffy if you dont have trained staff...

[SnowbirdRN]

I hold two jobs in the summer. My regular VNA nursing shifts (30 hrs) and the overnight girls camp. I get 24hrs off from camp a week and that's always spent towards my other job. I'm also the only nurse at camp and I surely get burnt out at times. When I'm not at camp, the director is in charge of passing meds. There are also a few staff members who are over 21 and have some sort of medical background (EMT, Head Lifeguard) who I allow to pass meds and treat campers with minor injuries as well. This summer I am looking for another nurse to help while I'm not at camp and give me a night off once a week but I highly doubt we'll find one. Luckily we have only just over a hundred campers at most so it doesn't get too crazy but with the h1n1 last year it seemed like my office was more bustling than the playground! I also keep a radio and am only confined to the health center if there is a camper in there. I'm often found sitting out in the sun doing my mounds of paperwork (thank you, ACA) and chasing my two cats out of the woods.

-dana