Monday, July 20, 2009

What Are You Doing for Your Summer Vacation?

Hollis Forester, RNC-NP





Summer is the time for fun in the sun, escape from the city and a little time to relax…how can you get those and still practice the art of nursing? Consider these two ideas:
Summer Camp Nurse! As a camp nurse, you can work four or eight week stints in a camp with 7-15 year olds children. Camps employ RNs, LPNs and student nurses, who can be assistants in the health center. Often there is a rotating doctor who comes to the camp at intervals during the summer and there could be a small team of three-four nurses who care for the staff and campers.
I actually did this one summer. I was a camp nurse for two weeks in the Sierra Nevada mountains in my son's camp. His tuition was free and he thought it was quite fun having me there. I took care of homesickness, and cuts and scrapes. The cutest incident of the week occurred when one of my son's friends ran into the nurse's cabin to announce that a bug had flown into his ear and it would not come out. He was very worried it was going to get into his brain.
Here's the list of responsibilities for a camp nurse:
• Dispense medications to the children
• Provide first aid to campers and staff
• Care for homesick children
• Be aware of any special health needs and provide for them
• Liaise with the local doctors, hospitals and pharmacies
• Communicate with parents
• Accompany sick campers to the hospital or to medical appointments if necessary.
Meanwhile, you'll be in the mountains or at the seashore, enjoying the outdoors, and the quiet, away from the television and the lights and flash of the city.
Cruise Ship Nurse! On the other hand, here's a travel, vacation alternative. There will probably be a little more glitz than summer camp, but if the wide open sea calls to you, here is a possibility.
Medical teams on cruise ships are headed by a physician, but they use RNs to help run the health centers that are crucial to the functioning of the ship. RNs can make about $2200-2900 per month for providing care to staff and passengers. Requirements for the job include experience or training in first aid and trauma care, and the cruise lines prefer RNs with recent hospital experience. There does not seem to be any requirement for any specific degree. An active RN license is sufficient. Think how exciting it could be to travel for a month in the summer, exploring the ports and enjoying the ocean.
Where you travel probably dictates the kind of care that you may need to deliver. One article I ran across said that with cruises to Alaska you care more for respiratory infections, and, of course, you may see sunburn and exposure problems for cruises to the sunnier and warmer climates.
These possibilities for a little vacation while you are practicing your skills could offer you a real break from hospital work. Consider taking your vacation time and using your knowledge to help care for the staff, passengers and campers traveling the oceans and trekking the land this summer. It may give you the break you have been craving!



What Are You Doing for Your Summer Vacation?Originally from: http://www.nursinglink.com/education/articles/8493-what-are-you-doing-for-your-summer-vacation

View this post on my blog: http://travelnursesuccess.com/what-are-you-doing-for-your-summer-vacation

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