MacMurray hosts nursing camp

Nursing faculty gives high school students hands-on experience.

Kelly Ruppel, professor of nursing, works with students on a simulator.

Kelly Ruppel, professor of nursing, works with students on a simulator.

MacMurray College welcomed 30 high school students to campus for Teens Experience Nursing (TEN) Camp. The four-day camp is free to students. Teens receive a hands-on introduction to the nursing career, spending three days at Memorial Medical Center and one day at MacMurray College.

“It’s always nice to welcome these high school students and see how enthusiastic they are about pursuing a nursing career,” said JoEllen Brannan, professor of nursing and chair of the division of nursing at MacMurray College.

Nursing faculty helped students practice with simulators and demonstrated basic nursing assessment skills. The students were also given an overview of tuition, admissions and financial aid processes.

“We’ve given them a taste of what it’s like to be in nursing school,” said Brannan.

This is the second year of MacMurray’s partnership with Memorial’s TEN camp. In addition to experience at MacMurray, students shadow nurses at departments throughout Memorial Medical Center, including maternity, dialysis, emergency, intensive care and the Regional Burn Center.

The camp will wrap up Thursday at Memorial with an awards ceremony.

“TEN camp gives students the opportunity to personally experience nursing education and nursing practice, helping them pursue a rewarding and essential career,” said Kristin Blake, Memorial Health System’s coordinator for career development and advising.

Memorial Medical Center is a not-for-profit, community-based hospital in the Illinois Medical District at Springfield.