Reply To: Brand new to day camp nursing + disorganized health center

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#42640
Matthew Hecht
Participant

Lynne is right on with everything she wrote about PA. It is a v. restrictive state.

To highlight:
– absolutely need standing orders for medications, this needs to be signed yearly.
– the camp should notify guardians of the OTC meds available (from the standing orders) AND give them the chance to opt out of the medications. (FYI: we do not allow parents to opt out of benadryl or epi- we require their permission for attendance)
– the health center should have procedures and protocols. (see the ACN website for good examples)
– procedures should include things like: the refrigerator temp should be checked and recorded daily, the AED is stocked and pads up to date, etc.
– protocols should be what to do in common health situations at the camp. They can be specific to the camp. (ie. in an emergency, the nurse will go to the patient, the director will stay by the phone)
– both the procedures and protocols should be written as if you weren’t at camp to explain them. A nurse new to the camp should be able to understand what is expected of them without much more context.
-One of the things that can be lacking in a ‘rustic’ health center is the mode of documentation. It’s still a requirement to document what is given and done as well as who is notified and when. Make sure you have a system for both, and please know that the health log (many camps keep a health log that describes what each person came to the health center for) is not enough. A unique record should be made for each unique camper. If you are on a computerized system this should be no big deal and you are probably doing it anyway, if its paper, create a document that works, it does not have to be an all-encompassing document, (I fit two to a page and it meets my needs.)

Hope this helps.

-Matt