It’s the last full day at Camp Koinonia and we don’t want to leave! It has been an amazing week, full of learning, building community, and love; and we all feel so thankful to have had this opportunity to take care and show compassion to these kids.

On the second to last night of camp there was a campfire, smores and live music. One of the campers requested the camp song to be played. The guy who wrote the song told the camper that he would play the song especially for them. Once he started playing the song, everyone got silent and then the tears began to flow. It was a beautiful moment watching this camper sing every word of the song and realizing that this is the place where she feels the most comfortable to be exactly who she is.

To bring in the last night at camp, there was a huge DANCE PARTY, and everyone was invited! This is the event that the campers look forward to the whole week: guys with bow ties and tuxedo shirts, girls with their best dresses, and many of the campers had a date… or two. The med clinic took shifts, so we all got to go, and it was one of the best parts of camp. All the campers were dancing so freely and with a whole lot of energy. After spending every moment together for a week, you could see that the counselor and campers had become very close. It was obvious that everyone was dreading saying good bye the next day. It felt like the whole week spent building an environment of acceptance and love was really paying off.

Although we are sad to leave this amazing place, the Camp Koinonia song really captures the essence of what this camp is and leaves us with something that we can use every day.

“On a plateau, there’s a place I can show you

Where you can be free to be who you are

Everyone cherished for being themselves

I once heard it said that we all shine on

Koinonia, home away from home

When I gave my love, I found my own”

It’s day three and most of us have gotten some sense of a daily rhythm down. We are part of the morning crew and today we had some free time in the afternoon to venture outside the clinic. Passing meds can be a frustrating and laborious process depending on the campers so being outside was a very nice change of pace. We started down by the canoes and saw the “party barge,” which is used to take campers who are wheelchair bound out onto the lake. Next came the adaptive bikes, which can be used by any camper of any ability level. We all agree that he bikes were a highlight of the day…and yes that is speaking from personal experience. However, the counselors say the bikes are a little less fun when they have a runaway camper on their hands. Then we settled ourselves down to watch the campers ride the horses and we ended up teaching a young camper how to feed the horses.

At each station the activity staff members explained how the activity has been adapted to accommodate any child wishing to participate. At these stations we were also able to interact with the peer counselors. These counselors are adults with disabilities who have come to camp in the past as campers and now come as counselors. Most of us have given medications to these counselors over the past couple of days and experiencing them outside of the clinic gave us a completely new perspective of their abilities.

Many of our clinical experiences in the ABSN program are strictly professional and focused on medical care. But here at camp we really get to see the big picture of true wellness that encompasses the physical, emotional, and social health of these children. Who knows what tomorrow will bring inside or outside of the clinic doors!

Written by ABSN students Maddie Milner, Madison Kane, Sara Bowen

Today was our first full day in the clinic passing out medications and interacting with the campers. Students were split into two groups, one in the morning and one in the evening. The morning started out with a steady flow of campers starting at 6am. The students and nurses fell into a rhythm of teamwork which consisted of greeting campers as they walked in the clinic, getting their information, and pulling their medications. There was some downtime mid-afternoon, which allowed students to explore the camp and interact with the campers at various activities. The evening picked up again and was steady until around 10pm.

Today was all about observing, learning and problem solving. We learned quickly that giving medications to the campers required us to think about more than just the Five Rights of Medication Administration. Some things to keep in mind when giving campers their medications included:

• Can the camper swallow their medication?
• Were special instructions included in their MAR on how to give the medication?
• Do they take their medication in applesauce, pudding or with water? Crushed in a cookie? Wrapped in a fruit role up?
• Can the camper verify who they are verbally?
• What do we do when a camper spits out their medication? Or throws it? Or refuses to it take?

Although these are extra steps to giving the campers their medications, they are vital to making the med clinic operate smoothly and creating an enjoyable experience for the campers!

We are learning to be creative and flexible in our approach to giving medications depending on the needs of the population. We have been able to practice assessing the needs of each camper and tailoring our level of care to them. Some campers are able to take their medications with a drink of water, while others take multiple people figuring out playfully ways persuade them to take their meds. Our admiration for the caregivers of the campers grew as we realized the amount of time, energy, and mental space it takes to not only keep these children physically safe, but medically safe as well.

One of the best parts of the day was being able to interact with the campers in the clinic and ask about their day. It is rewarding to see how much fun the campers are having and knowing that it would not be possible if they were not able to get the medical attention they need. We are excited to be here this week to learn the ins and outs of medication administration with a new population and in a new environment.

Blog written by ABSN students C.C. McCarver and Kayla Starr.