UMC Introduces Middle-Schoolers to Nursing Careers

at ‘Camp Scrubs,’ June 19-23

 

June 14, 2006 

From: AHSC Office of Public Affairs, (520) 626-4828 or (602) 631-6555                                                            

 

Twenty middle-school students will get a weeklong immersion in nursing beginning Monday, June 19, at University Medical Center’s “Camp Scrubs.”

 

This is the third year UMC has offered the popular summer camp, said camp Director Ellice Mellinger, RN, MS, clinical educator for perioperative services at UMC.

 

“Arizona and the nation are facing a critical nursing shortage and we must recruit more young people into the profession. Camp Scrubs is one way we can show teens some of the joys of nursing,” she said.

 

Getting sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders thinking about nursing as a possible career choice gives them time to adjust their high school coursework with an eye toward getting into nursing school, Mellinger said.

 

During Camp Scrubs, students will hear from UMC nurses in a variety of specialties, including emergency services, infection control, orthopedics, pediatrics, cardiovascular services and perioperative services. They also will shadow working nurses, learn about nursing degrees offered through The University of Arizona and Pima Community College, and receive training and certification in first aid and CPR.

 

“We want to show these impressionable young people that nursing is more than giving medications and bed baths, that it also has some very exciting aspects,” she said.

 

UMC, with more than 1,000 registered nurses on staff, can show the students a huge array of specialty nursing, she added.

 

UMC received the American Nurses Association's highest honor for nursing excellence two years ago, making it the first hospital in Arizona to carry the elite "Magnet Hospital" designation. UMC is among a distinguished handful of Magnet hospitals nationwide, including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the Cleveland Clinic. The Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Services designation is held by only 1 percent of all acute-care hospitals in the country.

 

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Assignment editors: Best photo opportunities are between 11:15 a.m. and 12:30  p.m. Wednesday, June 21 when students will try on HAZMAT gear and tour ambulances and helicopters outside the UMC Trauma Center. Call 626-4828 to schedule an interview with camp participants or directors.

 

 

 

Susan Guthrie
Associate Director of Public Affairs
The University of Arizona
College of Medicine - Phoenix
4001 N. Third Suite, Suite 415
(602)631-6555
sguthrie@email.arizona.edu

Follow this link to learn more about the expansion of the UA College of Medicine in Phoenix.