The number of patients receiving healthcare services outside the hospital setting has been on the increase due to factors like high medical costs and prolonged hospital visits. Lippert et al. (2017) observed that the burden associated with cancer treatment and frequent clinic visits impacted negatively both on the family and the child and therefore recommended home care for these children. Home is an example of community nursing where the nurses are able to provide medical services to the patients outside of the hospital setting. The healthcare services that can be provided outside the hospital facilities by community nurses vary depending on the patients’ conditions. Children with cancer can safely be provided with post-chemotherapy home hydration, additional teaching support within the home, monitoring of low-risk febrile neutron penia and administration of cytotoxic agents (Lipper et al., 2017). Camp nursing entails provision of healthcare services by nurses within the camps or retreats as need arises. Wu et al. (2016) stated that there are over 65 Children’s Oncology Camping Association International (COCA-I) camps in the United States and Canada focusing on oncology patients, their siblings and other family members.
Working with the children at the camp site is a good opportunity for one to acquire experience in handling medical emergencies as access to hospitals may take some time and the patient may need immediate attention. One will be required to provide healthcare services to alleviate the emergency as there are usually no other medics within the camp. Camp nursing offers an opportunity for a one to create an environment in which campers are able to discuss health issues openly and any other concerns and hence offering emotional support to the campers. Camp nursing gives the nurses an opportunity to develop their management skills as the nurse is the only one who is in charge of medical issues and therefore handles a variety of duties like paperwork, ordering for healthcare supplies and monitoring over the counter medication.
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The management of cancer in children puts a lot of pressure within the families financially, physically and emotionally due to the length and nature of treatment. Children with cancer experience long periods of treatment and therefore make frequent visits to the hospitals for hospitalization and outpatient clinic appointments (Wu et al., 2016). These children experience exhaustion, disruption of family life, confinement to the hospitals and isolation. The quality of the children’s life is negatively affected as they are not able to socialize and interact with the other children as their counterparts who are not affected by cancer.
Camp nursing for children with oncological conditions are geared towards achieving several purposes. One of the goals for camp nursing includes providing campers with a community of peers who have similar experiences (Wu et al., 2016). The camp brings together children with oncological conditions from diverse backgrounds who are able to share experiences with each other. The children are able to share both the positive and negative experiences and therefore encourage and teach each other on the care and management of cancer. Wu et al. (2016) observed that such sharing sessions boosts the self-efficacy, self-esteem and independence among the children affected by cancer. The camps also offer the children and family members with the opportunity to relax and take part in the recreation activities that allows them reprieve from the cancer experience hence impacting positively on their physical, social and psychological functioning.
In conclusion, while cancer has had negative effects on both the affected children and their families, camps offer a good avenue for them to relax and interact with other people and acquire new knowledge. Camp nursing also offers an opportunity for the nurses to sharpen their skills as it is entirely their responsibility to oversee the healthcare needs at the camp.
References
Lippert, M, Semmens, S., Tacey, L., Rent, T., Defoe, K.…& Lafay-Cousin, L. (2017), The Hospital at Home Program: no place like home, Current Oncology , 24 (1):23-27
Wu, Y.P., McPhail, J., Mooney, R., Martiniuk, A. & Amylon, M.D. (2017), A multisite evaluation of summer camps for children with cancer and their siblings, Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 34 (6): 449-459
