Nursing camp is real practice

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Sounds interesting: Nursing camp is real practice - Camdenton, MO - Lake Sun Leader

The 20 future nurses may be on winter vacation, but that doesn’t mean learning has taken a break.

Lake Regional Health Systems held a two-day nursing camp attended by 17 high school students and one college student with interests in a future career in the health care industry.

On the first day, they discussed anatomy, physics, nursing requirements and the different areas of nursing. A medical student spoke before each tied on paper gowns and masks, broke up into groups and dissected pig uteri.

It was a chance for each to pick out muscle groups, bones, organs and the close similarities with the human body.

Dressed in teal scrubs, on the second day, the class split into two groups. One group headed to the hospital to make rounds and observe nurses working with real patients.

Back in the conference room, the other students got some hands-on training.

In one corner, two rubber arms were poked with needles as students practiced inserting an IV.

“When I was in nursing school, we practiced on each other,” oncology nurse Brandi Kincaid said, only half joking.

Kincaid helps each student at the station. At first, each approach the realistic arm with a bit of apprehensiveness and nervousness. Once they learned the correct steps and how-to’s of handling a needle, they walked away with more than just a pile of used needles sitting on the table. They walked away armed with a sense of confidence knowing the first time they have to perform the procedure won’t be on a live person.

Fewer bruised arms have been just one of the outcomes of the nursing camps.

Beth Pettitt has been organizing the nursing camps at the hospital twice a year for the past several years.

A nurse herself, Pettitt says she strives to give each camp a different ‘flavor’ by offering different classes, rotations or even themes.

Teaching the basic skills and fundamentals - such as taking blood pressure and pulse, assessing wounds, etc. - will always remain at the core of the curriculum.

With those skills, Pettitt says the students can enter into nursing school feeling confident about themselves. That, in turn, produces better nurses.

A better atmosphere, experience and opportunity can also mean a higher number of nursing recruits who already live nearby.

Several years ago, faced with a rising attrition rate of staffed nurses at the hospital, Lake Regional and Columbia College partnered together to start a nursing program at the college’s Lake of the Ozarks branch in Osage Beach.

Pettitt said today, there are only three open nursing positions.

The nursing camps and the partnership with Columbia College are given partial credit.

Other reasons include the hospital reaching out to the community more and also taking more steps to be proactive.

Listed on its Web site, Lake Regional Health System , are a long list of classes, support groups and training seminars.

Pettitt said in June of the coming year, the grant that has been able to provide the hospital with the money for the nursing camp will be over. However, the hospital will be reapplying.

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Another 'camp' story: Camp gives college students head start for nursing school / - Augusta, Georgia News, Weather, Sports, Consumer Advocacy and Community Events

College freshmen and sophomores interested in nursing can get a head start on their careers at the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing this summer.

The second annual Nursing Career Summer Camp is a five-week program designed to prepare undergraduates for the challenges of nursing school, while also increasing diversity in the school's applicant pool.

"We've found that students over the years are surprised when they begin nursing school," said Dr. Deborah Smith, project director of the school's Nursing Workforce Diversity Project, which encompasses the camp. "They still think they can memorize information and make it through, but nursing students must understand and apply information, and that's a shocker to some."

Jan. 30 is the application deadline for the camp, which begins May 16.

The Nursing Workforce Diversity Project, funded by a three-year, $742,000 Health Resources and Services Administration grant, also provides scholarships, loaner laptops and peer tutoring for MCG nursing students. The grant covers all expenses for camp participants, including housing, tuition and a $250 monthly stipend.

The camp includes an introductory pathophysiology course and enrichment courses on reading comprehension, writing and general mathematics.

"Pathophysiology, which looks at how disease processes affect the different body systems, seems to be one of the more difficult courses for nursing students, so we wanted to give camp participants an introduction to the course," said Dr. Smith, assistant chair of the Department of Health Environments and Systems.

Participants also will spend time in the MCG Interdisciplinary Simulation Center and shadow MCGHealth Inc. nurses.

This summer's camp is expanding to accept 15 participants from across Georgia. Last year, there were six local participants. Special consideration is given to applicants who are under-represented in nursing, which includes minorities, males and students from educationally or economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

"The community we serve is very diverse, and traditionally we haven't had a large number of diverse students from under-represented backgrounds entering any of the health professions," said Dr. Smith. "When you have health care professionals from various perspectives and backgrounds, you have better outreach to everyone in the community."

"Two students from last year's program are now enrolled and successfully advancing in our nursing program," said Dr. Shirley Quarles, co-director of the Nursing Workforce Diversity Project and interim chair of the Department of Physiological and Technological Nursing. "We look forward to continued successful matriculation of students from diverse backgrounds."
For more information or to apply, visit diversity