NHRMC News - Camp BONES allows kids to explore nursing as a career

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Camp BONES allows kids to explore nursing as a career
08/07/2007
Kids today can choose summer camps for drama, tennis, swimming, sewing or just about any activity imaginable. But a different kind of camp had a group of rising 8th- and 9th-graders buzzing last month.

Camp BONES, a two-week camp in July, allows in-depth exploration of the field of nursing. Fifteen students from New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender, Columbus and Duplin counties participated this year.

The collaboration among New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Coastal AHEC and UNCW began last year as the brainchild of Cyndi Meredith, the Workforce Diversity Coordinator with Coastal AHEC. The program exposes young students to opportunities in health care professions with the goal of helping them prepare for advanced study by taking appropriate courses in high school.

'This has been a phenomenal experience for me,' said Javier Ramirez, a rising freshman at Pender Early College High School. 'We got to see different roles in nursing and actually had hands-on experience.'

'Before this program I wanted to be a doctor, but now I've seen how many different things you can do as a nurse,' said Jarmell Foy, a rising freshman at Wilmington Early College High School.

'This experience has definitely convinced me that I want to be a nurse because there are so many things you can do, and you can travel anywhere and get a job,' said Nick Stafford, a rising 8th-grader at Murray Middle School.

Gladys James, a rising freshman at Pender High School, said she was blown away to learn that there are so many specialties in nursing.

'I liked most of the ones I saw, but I don't know which one I want to do yet,' she said.

'They got it,' said Bettie Glenn, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs with the School of Nursing at UNC-Wilmington after the presentations. 'These students really grasped the broad range of responsibilities and options within the field of nursing.'

In addition to the early exposure, Camp BONES targets students from historically under-represented populations in health care, such as African-Americans and Hispanics from rural communities, and males.

'It's a wonderful program,' said Karen Pleva, NHRMC Assistant Vice President of Patient Care Services. 'It has so many components that will encourage and support youngsters on their exploratory journey toward health care. With a nursing shortage looming at both the state and national levels, Camp BONES is a great way to grow the next generation of nurses.'

The two-week summer camp begins with a residential stay at UNCW, when students learn about nursing roles and basic nursing knowledge and skills such as taking blood pressure. During the second week, students shadow nurses at NHRMC, observing as the lessons learned the first week are applied in patient care situations. Students return for weekend seminars in the fall and spring followed by a week of intense training and practice the next summer.

'The goal is to create an interest in health care careers and cultivate that interest into academic preparation for a health career study program,' said Meredith. 'We follow these students through high school and help in any way we can to get them into the health career they want to pursue.'

Jarmell, who is already a peer mediator at his school, says he's interested in becoming a psychiatric nurse after hearing Karen Jefferson, a nurse with the Oaks.

'My friends all tell me I should be a counselor or something, but I think psychiatric nursing would be very interesting,' he said.

Nick boasted that one of the nurses he shadowed let him put an oximeter on a patient‘s finger.

'He also let me crush a pill that he put in the patient's feeding tube,' he said. 'The camp was a fun and awesome experience. We all learned a lot.'

To learn more about Camp BONES and how to participate, please call Cyndi Meredith at 343.0161 ext. 314.

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