Mariah McHenry appreciates good, friendly care on her frequent visits to the hospital.
“I go to the clinic across the street,” said McHenry, pausing to talk last Friday during a classroom lesson at the MultiCare Nurse Camp at Tacoma General Hospital. “They are always so kind, and so I always wanted to be a nurse.”
Doctors are treating the Auburn Mountainview High School student for aplastic anemia, a rare blood disease. McHenry says she feels fine now. On the cusp of her senior year, her prognosis is good.
Soon McHenry turns her attention back to that day’s lesson — how to suture pigs’ feet.
For a hands-on opportunity to learn more about a specialized profession, McHenry, 17, and 99 other high school students from 31 cities last week participated in the 10th annual Nurse Camp at Tacoma General, Mary Bridge, Allenmore and Good Samaritan hospitals.
The annual, four-day camp offers students an inside look at careers in the healthcare world. Students spend time in departments at MultiCare’s hospitals, visit local colleges and universities and participate in rotations throughout the hospital network.
McHenry came away impressed.
“Up until now I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but now I know it’s something in the medical field. It’s exciting,” she said.
Like McHenry, Auburn’s Sharnpreet Tung overcame health problems. As a child, she was hospitalized with a life-threatening illness.
Tung, too, never forgot the kind care she received at the hands of doctors and nurses.
“I know from a patient’s view how it feels,” said Tung, 16, a junior-to-be at Auburn Mountainview. “The nurses and everyone were really nice (to me), so this is what I wanted to do when I grow up.”
Tung and other students learned that nurses do much more than draw blood and take temperatures.
“Wow, they do everything,” Tung said.
Students examined pig hearts and LVADs (left ventricular assist devices), learned to prepare pediatric patients for tests/procedures, practiced with c-collar/backboards and ran neuro checks.
Using robotic instruments, students performed “Skittle-ectomies” in the operating room, where they discovered other high-tech surgeries.
They also job shadowed various units and departments at the hospitals.
Ten years ago, MultiCare recognized the need to encourage a more diverse, better prepared health care work force. In 2004, it began supporting the weeklong day camp, which is free to area students. In addition to increasing ethnic and racial diversity in health care, a growing number of young men are pursuing careers in nursing.
MultiCare Nurse Camp encourages and supports that trend.
“Nurse Camp allows students to explore nursing and other health careers through hands-on activities, job shadowing and discussions with health professionals, visits to local nursing schools and much more,” said Nurse Camp Director Jamilia Sherls, MPH, BSN, RN. “They also receive a stethoscope and medical scissors to use during assessment activities.
“From these experiences, it is my hope that Nurse Camp students begin to visualize themselves as future nurses and become even more motivated to pursue this career path,” Sherls said. “It would be great if these students returned to MultiCare one day as a nurse or another health professional.”
