SCRUBS Camp 2011

SCRUBS Camp 2011

This is my week! This is the gang at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital. Another group of twenty two are at Roper Hospital. Up and at 'em kids!

Happy Campers

SCRUBS Camp, Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital, Charleston, S.C.

Twenty two proud graduates earned their CPR certificate, First Aid Certificate and got a stethoscope for graduation. One tired den mother crashed and burned. Wake me up on Monday.

Thank you, thank you to everyone who helped out today especially my buddy Dr. Geer who came in on his day off to do the "So, you think you want to be a Doctor?" talk.

G'night folks!

Break a leg!

Charleston, S.C.

It's been a weird day.

:))

I'll never look at chicken feet the same. The OR nurses taught the kids how to put a cast on a broken limb with chicken feet.

Give me your blood thirsty children....

SCRUBS Camp, Charleston, S.C.

Do you have or know a kid who watches all the medical tv shows, dreams about working in a hospital, whose little heart would go pitter patter if they got to scrub in an operating room and play with a laparoscopy machine? If you know that kid, I want them for one week this summer.

June 21st is the fourth annual award winning summer SCRUBS Camp for 13, 14 and 15 year olds. Call 402-CARE for the application packet in the morning. They will need to write a short essay on their interest in health careers and get a teacher's recommendation. This is not just a cheap summer camp, this is specifically for kids interested in health care and our hospital staff competes to give them an incredible experience.

They will earn their CPR certificate, First Aid certificate, do rotations in the neonatal unit, Emergency Dept, Operating Room, Imaging and Rehab Therapy. They will do scavenger hunts and take a bus to Trident Tech to play with the simulator mannequin.

Don't waste time! Last year we had 66 applications for 44 spots. The camp will be held at both Roper and Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital. I will be with the gang at St. Francis day to day and Cathy Hallman will host the Roper crew.

It is safe for boys. Current groups are quite well mixed.

Edit: I have more than enough applications. Thanks folks!

Visit SCRUBS "U"

SCRUBS "U" Program, Roper Hospital, Charleston, S.C.

My student healthcare mentoring program got a nice write up in the ADVANCE for Nursing Journal: Visit SCRUBS "U" by Joe Darrah. Thanks Joe!

Wash this Way

College Laundromat, Calhoun & Smith St., Charleston, S.C.

This may not be the historically significant building in Charleston but I bet it holds a place in the memories of many a College of Charleston student. It's name is simply "College Laundromat". I used to think I'd like to own it and be the grand matriarch of laundry.

I am home a bit early and walked back from a meeting at Roper Hospital after doing a telephone interview with a Nursing Magazine about my SCRUBS student mentoring program. Coolness. They plan to write a story on it which tickles me to no end.

One, one thousand, two one thousand, three.....

Charleston, S.C.

Yawn.

Tonight was one of my SCRUBS "U" career evening sessions for teenagers and this evening a great team of nurses at Roper Hospital hosted my energetic gang of forty students and presented Nursing as a career.

It is such a great program but my success is going to be the end of me. Every evaluation said, "We want more, we want longer sessions, we want them more often."

Meanwhile, I want sleep, I want more of it, I want it now. :))

G'night kids. Don't stay up too late. Someone turn the lights out. But leave the tap dripping, it's still cold out there.

Living & Learning

SCRUBS "U" Program, Charleston, S.C.

The health care gals of Garrett Academy. How sweet it is to see people hungry to learn. I had over fifty students registered for a career evening last night and this gang of friends were all from the health science program at Garrett Academy. Keep it up! Good jobs are waiting for you.

Our future health care workers

SCRUBS Camp 2009, Charleston, SC

The kids appear to be having a good time but I am wiped out. Twenty four teenagers can drive me to my couch in the evening. Today was Physical Therapy, Imaging/Radiology, EMS and Surgical Careers. They let them intubate the mannequin, ride in the ambulance and use the bovie cauterizing machine in the OR.

No worries. Those are beef kidneys the students are suturing.

My 2009 Gang

SCRUBS Camp 2009, Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital

This is how I am spending my week - with twenty four, 13, 14 and 15 year olds who claim an interest in health care. It is pure selfishness. I want to make sure there is someone to take care of me when I am old. Nice mix. The first boy to arrive is always concerned he might be the only one. There is one set of triplets in the bunch and a good number of them were actually born at our hospital. That is full circle.

Wish me luck. I won't be doing much else this week.

Playing with the big kids toys

SCRUBS "U" Health Careers, Charleston, SC

I'm getting old. Ending the evening with fifty teenagers exploring surgical careers has ended the day with me crashed on my couch. Yawn.

The nurses outdid themselves. They handed out safety glasses and let them use a laser to burn their name into a wooden tongue blade. I was relieved we didn't set off any smoke detectors. They laid out plastic bones and let them practice orthopedic surgery with drills and screws. Pretty cool stuff. It's nice to see kids appreciating the opportunity to learn something they are really interested in.