Thinking about a career in nursing? Does the idea of being part of a health care team appeal to you? Are you intrigued by some of the opportunities this ever-expanding field offers? In many places, the demand for nurses far outweighs available professionals, creating a demand for trained nurses and candidates for nursing school programs.

Lake Regional Health Systems in Osage Beach, Missouri has found an innovative way to attract potential nursing school students – they’ve started a nursing camp. Offered twice a year, this two day intensive introductory program is the brain-child of Beth Pettit, a nurse at the facility. The latest camp, held during local college and high school winter breaks, attracted 18 participants – who all walked away with an invaluable first-hand look at their potential careers.

The agenda is rigorous, giving these potential health care students maximum exposure to the demands and rewards of the profession.

Day #1. The program begins with an introduction to the profession, with a discussion of the various areas of nursing and a synopsis of nursing requirements, including outlining areas of study such as biology, anatomy and physics.

Then the students don paper gowns and masks, break into teams and head to a dissecting lab, where they work on pig uteri. This gives participants the opportunity to identify muscle groups, organs and skeletal structures that have a fundamental relationship to the human form.

Day #2. Participants suit up in scrubs and divide into in to two sections. One group heads into the hospital to make round and shadow the nursing staff. The rest of the students get some hands-on training. One team practices techniques for inserting an IV using a very life-like rubber arm.

“When I was in nursing school, we practiced on each other,” says an instructing nurse, only half kidding.

Clearly nervous, campers approach the artificial arm with apprehension. However, once they learn the basic technique, confidence starts to build – and the reassurance that nursing schools use tools like human models to teach beginning nursing skills.

Pettit structures each camp differently, offering a range of classes, rotations and even themes. However the core of the program – assessing wounds, and taking vital signs such as blood pressure and pulse – remain constant. Getting a leg-up in learning these skills means nursing students begin classes with more confidence – and Pettit says that makes for better nurses.

In June 2010 the grant that has funded the nursing camps will run out, but because of the success of the program, a new grant proposal is in the works. And as the need for qualified nurses increases, other nursing programs adapt this innovative recruitment approach.