A recent post in a student nurse livejournal community got me to thinking about my summers doing camp nursing. I started as an assistant to the camp nurse at Camp Echoing Hills, a special needs camp in Ohio. I did that three summers. It was exhausting, difficult work and totally worth it! Even though it would be totally depressing to have divided the number of hours I worked by my salary those summers, it was still worth every minute I spent there. Here are some of the advantages of taking a camp nursing job while you’re in school:
-I met a lot of interesting people from around the world (there are lots of programs that do exchanges with the US, especially in the UK, so most camps have a lot of international counselors)
-I got a lot of fresh air and participated in fun activities that I wouldn’t have if I had been home
-I didn’t spend any money, since we never really left the camp and room and board was completely paid for.
-I got a ton of experience that no one else in my school had. Since it was a special needs camp, under the supervision of the head nurse I got to to do things like J tube feeds, cathing, breathing treatments, emergency care etc. I also got accustomed to passing meds quickly. I believe this was all permitted, legally, because I was qualified as a medical assistant. I wasn’t using my SN credentials for this, I believe that would have gotten me in troube since I wasn’t acting as a student nurse.

You can learn more about camp nursing at the American Association of Camp Nurses website and even look for jobs.

Those camp summers were exhausting but really really fun and such a good learning experience. I also really felt like I got to make a difference in young lives too.