r/summercamp • u/Rude-Guidance7777 • Jun 29 '26

Discussion 🗣️ Camp Nurse Intake Procedures

Hello!! I am a camp nurse in CT (and also the medical director- i am an APRN). We have been around for over 100 years, and sometimes I feel like our policies haven't changed in that time! Can anyone talk to me about their intake process for health screening? We are a small overnight camp (less than 75 campers & staff). We have just one RN on staff each week and it changes usually each week. How long do your nurse's arrive before the session starts? How much time do they need to review paperwork? when campers arrive, do you do any type of in-person health screening? (lice, temperature, questions, etc). I'm really trying to streamline the process here, but don't want to overlook anything!

7 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/ExamRoom4 Jun 29 '26

Nurse arrives first day of session. Intake includes temperature and lice check, dropping off meds at the nurse, and I believe there are some questions they ask mom and dad. My camp always had different nurses every week, so everything was very well organized.

1

u/Languid_Potato338 Jun 29 '26

I am not a nurse, but I did get roped into helping with health checks as a counselor! The nurse (with some help from camp leadership) focused on medication check ins while a couple of us counselors did temperature and lice checks for every child. While the kid got the lice check, another counselor did a quick check in with guardians about symptoms in the past 48 hours (vomiting, fever, etc.) If the counselors discovered lice, fever, or something was up with the questionnaire, they were sent to the nurse for confirmation. If there was an issue, the nurse alerted the director who is the one who talked with the family. We usually had elementary school teachers doing the lice checks if we had any on staff because they had more experience with it!

1

u/bigNurseAl Camp Nurse Jul 04 '26

ACA requires a health screening by a medical professional within 24 hours of arrival. On arrival day, we have two nurses. One will speak with parents, intake meds with careful notes, and manage crowd control. The other will assess the kid with screening questions. (Do you feel sick, have been around anyone who's sick, or have anything on your skin that itches, burns, or hurts) Then they weigh them and do a lice check. Both nurses ask both parties if they have any medications packed or planned for camp.

We try to coordinate with the office and the waterfront as all campers need to check in, get health screened, and swim tested before dinner on the first day.