I recently chatted with a nurse who is getting ready for her first summer of camp nursing. She was pretty excited but, understandably, nervous. She was looking for some advice. I was delighted to give help.
How can you ensure you won’t leave AWOL in the middle of the night? Well…here are some hot tips to help you make your camp nurse experience successful!
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| Hot tips! |
1. Take a first aid class and practice the techniques! Seems simple, but, a lot of what you will be doing is basic first aid. It’s nice to be able to send a kid off to the ER with a splint that you can be proud of.
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| No go |
3. Good shoes. Again, you need to be sensible here. Leave the Louboutin’s at home. Teva’s, running shoes, flip flops will work. Just make sure you can run in them (without breaking your neck) if you need to.
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| Looks dorky but it’s useful! |
5. Do. Not. Bring. Candy. For the campers anyway! Bring all the “peanut free” candy that you want for yourself (and keep it under lock and key). Guaranteed to backfire on you if you give candy to
the camper…and “cough drops” count as candy here! Like ravenous little raccoons they will pester you and distract you from your real focus. If you want the campers to be your friends just be your charming self and/or bring a joke book!
6. A flashlight is super handy for night shift. A headlamp is even better for activities that require your hands free for, say CPR. Just kidding!
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| Source |
12. Magazines/book with a book mark are nice when you have a few minutes of downtime. But if you are planning on reading “Fifty Shades of Grey” be sure to wrap it in a book cover!
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| Uh oh… |
15. Have some salt on hand in the health office. It’s great for salt water gargles for sore throats (most commonly caused by too much yelling/screeching) and for salt water foot soaks for those open wounds on the feet that are starting to look a little sketchy.
16. Master the bathing suit scooch. Ladies? You will thank me. Check out this post.
Memoirs of a Camp Nurse 