Nurse Appreciation Week

To all the camp nurses out there, Pine Forest Camp would like to wish you a Happy Nurse Appreciation Week!

PFC would like to thank all of the camp nurses from the past, present and future.

To the past camp nurses: Thank you for paving the way of camp nursing!

To the present camp nurses:  Thank you for keeping camp safe and healthy!

To the future camp nurses:  We can’t wait to see you “up where the sky begins!”

Nurse Appreciation Week

PFC Health Center

Happy Nurse Appreciation Week to all of our nurses and health staff!

With summer approaching, we look forward to welcoming an all-star team of 18 nurses to Pine Forest and our brother and sister camps, Lake Owego and Timber Tops. Please join us by welcoming them for summer 2016!  They will be an extension of home to take care of all the campers when they need extra TLC, from a belly ache to a sting.  Our health center has a great collection of skills; it’s made up of nurse practitioners, ER nurses, school nurses and professionally trained military nurses.  Your children are in great hands!  You are welcome to call the health center and speak to our nurses anytime when camp is in session!

A big thank you to all of the 2016 nursing team, this week and every week. Camp is lucky to have all of you this summer!

Also, a special thank you to the team of doctors we will have at camp this summer.  Our doctors are so dedicated to camp and we can’t thank them enough for all that they do.

In good health,

Rachel Waszczak and the rest of the PFC family

Top 10 Ways to Stay Healthy at Camp

We will be on the look out to take the best care of your kids, but it won’t hurt to review this list!

10. Homesickness – It is real.  So if your camper is talking about not feeling well, also encourage them to focus on feeling happy.  Know that they might be feeling sick but they also might feel H.A.L.T.D (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired, Dehydrated).  Ask them to share their concerns but also ask if we can address H.A.L.T.D.

9. Hand washing – In the last 100 years, this might be the most radical change in health.  The amount of bacteria that lurks around campers and activities is high.  We can’t really do much about it but we can wash it away!  Encourage your camper to wash after using the bathroom and before eating.  If they shower on a regular basis (which they do at camp), that helps too!

8.  Bugs – Bugs bite. But how we respond to them is important.  Encourage the camper to not scratch them and turn annoying bites into infected wounds.

7. Ticks – Show your camper what a tick looks like and the importance of self-checks.  Let’s not get involved with Lyme Disease.

6. Wear the right clothing – When hiking, wear long pants and know what poison oak and poison ivy look like.

5. Eat well – Campers are encouraged to make healthy choices.  Fruits and vegetables are available at every meal.  Encourage them to make good choices and to recognize how too much sugar and caffeine might make them feel.

4. Drink water – Send them with a water bottle and beg them to drink water.  Water will help them feel great and enjoy all of those activities they came to do!

3. Actually drink water!! This is very important!

2. Sleep – The best way to make the most of camp and take part in all of the activities is to rest the right amount.

1. Encourage campers to talk to their counselor if they do not feel well.   There is nothing wrong with not feeling well and it is bound to happen over the course of the summer.  Keeping counselors in the know is the most proactive way to stay healthy throughout the summer.