LCPS’s Camp Scrubs opens eyes, opens doors for students considering healthcare careers
In the future, they may be nurses or doctors or EMTs or X-ray technicians or much-needed talent in any number of other healthcare occupations, but this summer they are LCPS middle school and high school students exploring careers in the medical field and earning certifications in specific live-saving skills.
Welcome to Healthcare Heroes: Camp Scrubs, one of the most enduring and popular summer programs offered by LCPS. This month, the free two-week camp has drawn 26 students from across the school district, many of whom have already acquired background knowledge through their schools’ heath science classes.
“If you ask the class, the majority of them will tell you they are interested in something in healthcare or they think they’re interested,” said Brandi Stallings, who teaches health science and medical assisting at North Lenoir High School and is leading Camp Scrubs with Samantha Newcomb, a North Lenoir colleague who teaches health science and nursing fundamentals.
“Many of them are interested in nursing itself, but through the heathcare camp we are trying to hit all of the different heathcare-related occupations,” Stallings said. “We’re trying to show them a broad spectrum of healthcare, so they can see if there’s something they would be interested in.”
The camp offers a robust combination of presentations from professionals on the frontline of emergency medical care, field trips to nearby college campuses where students could continue their education after high school and hands-on exercises that will earn them certifications in first aid, CPR and Stop the Bleed.
John Tripp, training officer with Lenoir County EMS, held campers’ attention one morning with instruction on when and how to apply a tourniquet – a segment of the Stop the Bleed training – and, with the help of a lifelike mannequin, a hands-on demonstration in intubation, the life-saving procedure used when patients cannot breathe on their own.
Janiyah Wilson, a rising senior at North Lenoir, provided the hands as the class’s volunteer to work with Tripp. It was more like training than a demonstration for a 17-year-old who plans to become a nurse.
“I want to be a nurse in the National Guard,” Janiyah said after class. “I want to help people who are in need and help the people who help us.”
Even with health science classes under her belt, Janiyah was excited to learn about the range of healthcare occupations when Camp Scrubs took in a career fair at ECU Health earlier in the week. “I got to see more opportunities,” she said. “I learned so much. There’s so much more to healthcare than nursing.”
As if to emphasize that point, the camp’s coming attractions include presentations by representatives of the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office, North Lenoir Fire Department, the University of Mount Olive and Cherry Hospital. Campers will also take a ride to the county’s animal shelter to talk with a veterinary assistant.
Like camp leaders Stallings and Newcomb, students connect this summer learning opportunity with healthcare classes they’ve taken or that await them during the school year. As an adjunct to the academic training, the camp gives students a running start as they pursue goals like Certified Nurse Assistant status in high school, but the camp also has stand-alone value as a resource in the search for a fulfilling career.
“It opens doors for students so they can see where there are needs and then they can see if they are interested,” Newcomb said. “They get hands-on activities. They can ask a lot of questions. They can judge where they can go to school and they can make connections and see how they can get their degrees.”
At LCPS’s Heathcare Heroes: Camp Scrubs, John Tripp, training officer for Lenoir County EMS, gets an assist during a demonstration on intubation from North Lenoir High School rising senior Janiyah Wilson, a camp attendee who has her sights set on becoming a nurse.
