About the Nursing and Work Trade programs

Careful selection of Nurses to provide care to our campers is very important. We are lucky to have many nurses that return year after year and provide an excellent standard of care. In addition, our health manager Pat Burkard is a 25 year Kennolyn veteran and a nurse educator. Pat writes and reviews all of our nursing protocols and procedures which are comprehensive and are reviewed annually by our camp MD.

The vast majority of our nurses work in exchange for camp tuition. In other words, your work at Kennolyn as a nurse allows your camper to attend for free. Please note that nursing at camp is by no means a vacation! You are busy all day and every day. But it is fun to be around campers and staff and with the right attitude you will have a blast.

Basic Qualifications for all Nurses at Kennolyn Camps

Strong desire to work with children.

Ability and desire to work in and around an outdoor environment..

Currently licensed in California as a registered nurse or willing to complete requirements and pay fees to transfer license to California (see http://www.rn.ca.gov/applicants/lic-end.shtml for details.

Experiential knowledge base equivalent to one-year acute care nursing.

Current CPR certification is required. ACLS, and/or PALS is preferred.

Excellent pediatric and adult communication skills.

Personality traits i.e.: integrity, adaptability, enthusiasm, flexibility, patience, responsibility, and fun sense of humor.

Critical thinking skills are a must.

Resident Camp full session opportunities.

First year resident camp nurses receive one week of camp tuition in exchange for each week of nursing. Nurses also receive a 30% discount on a second child enrolled for any one or two week session. Generally, we require full session commitments from all nurses. If you are interested in only one week of nursing, please apply only for the one week sessions. Nurses are required to be on site by 5pm on Saturday prior to the session opening on Sunday and are required to be on site until 5pm on the closing Saturday of the session. Where possible, a 24 hour period off duty is made available to each nurse every week. Camp nursing is a 24 hour per day commitment. You will be provided with comfortable, shared accommodations in our beautiful Nurse's Cottage. Campers and staff are seen from 7am-9:30pm. Rest periods can be scheduled into this time to ensure nurses are healthy and rested. If enrollment is over 120 campers during your period of work, there will be a second nurse scheduled to work alongside you and you will arrange a convenient schedule for day time coverage and for responding to night time care. Campers and staff are generally seen and medications dispensed from 7am-9:30pm. All meals are provided in our Dining Hall and nurses have access to a washer and dryer for laundry. Returning nurses receive two weeks of camp tuition for one week of nursing. This can be used to bring 2 campers to a one week session or can be used to send one camper to a two week session. A returning nurse working a two week session can bring two campers to a two week session or one camper for a four week session. It is not required that your camper attend the same session that you are working (although that is most people's preference.)

Resident Camp 24-48 hour relief shifts.

In order to provide time off for the full session nurses, we recruit relief nurses who are available for 24-48 hour shifts. We can offer some flexibility in scheduling these shifts depending on the time off requests of the full session nurses. A relief nurse is required to be on site for the entire time of his or her shift. You will be provided with comfortable, shared accommodations in our beautiful Nurse's Cottage. Many of our relief nurses are local to our area and so chose to receive Day Camp tuition in exchange for their work. Relief nurses receive one week of day camp for each 48 hour shift (or 2 x 24 hour shifts.) The value of this trade can also be used toward resident camp tuition. For example, if a relief nurse works a 48 hour shift, they are entitled to one week of day camp. They could chose, however, to take the value of that one week day camp session ($445 in 2008) and apply that amount toward resident camp.

Day Camp

Day Camp nurses are on-site Monday-Friday 8am-5pm. In exchange for a minimum one week commitment, nurses receive two weeks of day camp tuition. You can bring two campers for one week or send one camper for two weeks. It is normally expected that Day Camp nurses will transport their own children to camp each day but if there is space available, campers are welcome to ride the bus to camp. Day Camp has a well appointed Nurse's station. There is one nurse scheduled for each session. The nurse is a promoter of good health as well as a responder to accident or illness. Nurses remind campers and staff about drinking plenty of water, using sunscreen, helping identify possible safety hazards, and ensuring the general well being of all. Most of the work is first aid and health awareness along with some distribution of medication. This is a high energy position and requires a person committed to a high level of interaction with campers and staff. Day camp nurses can exchange tuition for a camper who is entering K through 7th grades.

Although by no means a complete job description, the following is a list of basic duties for a Kennolyn nurse at day camp or resident camp:

Adhere to Kennolyn Camps Health Center Job Description, Emergency Plan and Kennolyn Staff Health Orientation, Health Center Directives, and Health Center Interventions & Standards of Care.

Adhere to the Delivery of Advanced First Aid (American Red Cross) and CPR (American Heart Association)

Screening of all campers within 24 hours after arrival at camp per ACA standards.

Daily evaluation and maintenance of health and hygiene issues.

Verification that all campers have a current health record on file in the Health Center and verification of signed permission for emergency medical care.

Conduct a weekly inventory of supplies and request stock as necessary.

Inspect, re-stock, and re-issue first aid kits for outpost, swimming pool, equestrian center, mountain biking, small animal care, kitchen, Kennolyn Camps office and autos, 3 day back pack trip, ropes course, craft area etc.

Ensure campers, staff, and support staff meets all applicable safety requirements.

Oversee completion of all incident forms in a timely fashion (within 24 hours of the event). Submit copy with daily nurse’s report.

Evaluate and determine necessity for off-site medical or dental care. Make appointments as necessary and arrange for transportation.

Report all suspected cases of child abuse to the Camp Director

Communicate directly with parents and Camp Director regarding health and hygiene issues of concern.

Weekly inspection of kitchen and sanitary facilities in camper’s area as applicable.

Application

To apply for any nursing position at Kennolyn, please complete an application online by clicking here. Please Note that for nursing position, you need not initially provide written references. We will ask you for them later as needed.

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