Nurse Camp 2010 - Post 2

Nurse Camp 2010 came to a close on June 9th. The final day included Bedpan races, Code Blue, a college tour, and the highlight was a visit from CareFlite. A helicopter landed on the front lawn of the Central Park Campus! Students were up close and personal with the helicopter and its crew. They took a look inside, asked questions and touched the equipment. The crew was incredibly professional and shared information about working on CareFlite and what type of career path leads to emergency nursing. The student's enthusiasm was visible. Neethu Benny exclaimed, “The CareFlite helicopter was fun! I got to see it up close.”

Students enjoyed the experiential approach to Nurse Camp. They were engaged in the learning and responded to the “real” nursing environment. Here are some of the highlights.
The station I liked best at Nurse Camp 2010 was…
“the one where you learned how to help people out of the hospital beds.”
“I liked the birthing simulation and the baby care, because I learned a lot.”
“probably the wheel chair and drunk glasses station. It was interesting to see what it’s like to be drunk without actually being drunk.”
“Out of all the stations, I liked the glow germs the best, because you can see how nasty your hands really get.”
“I liked cleaning wounds.”
“The CPR & blood pressure station.”
“The station I liked the best was when we could be the patient or the nurse.”

For many, the Nurse Camp experience at Collin College has prompted thoughts about their future. David Larson shared, “This gave me insight into the medical field. I’m just really interested in the medical profession. Just how nurses and doctors work together, and how they get the patient in and out." Neethu Benny is making some serious plans for her career in the medical field, “I want to become an oncologist. I’m going back and forth on different areas right now, so the camp actually helped me pick an area. So, it’s either oncology or pediatrics.”

Make sure you stay in the know for next year's nurse camp. Contact globaledge@collin.edu for more information.

Nurse Camp 2010 - Post 1

On June 7th, fifty-five 8th, 9th & 10th graders arrived at Collin College, Central Park Campus, to begin their hands-on adventure in Nursing. By 11 AM, participants were elbow deep in “chocolate pudding” germs, watching a birthing simulation or practicing blood pressure readings. Students took turns being the patient as others gathered around the hospital bed and administered care.


With Collin's stellar nursing program and excellent staff, each student could get a feel for what it is like to work in a hospital environment. For David Larson, a home school student, it was a great learning experience. "I thought it was really educational. I just enjoyed how everyone performed. They showed us nursing simulations in different situations. For example, we tended to patients. We did physical exams and CPR - how nurses do CPR on a person."


Collin College's nursing and simulations labs are housed in the James & Pat Aston Center for Health Studies on the third floor. Students enjoyed activities that utilized the 26 hospital beds and 20 mannequins that play an integral role in the nursing and surgical technical programs here on campus. For one participant, the nursing techniques were a highlight. "I liked learning how to take blood pressure. It was really fun, because we worked on the mannequins." For more information on nursing or surgical technology at Collin College, go to http://www.collin.edu/nursing/ or http://www.collin.edu/surgtech/.