Association of Camp Nursing www.ACN.org September 2017 volume 27, number 3 – My View – Examining the Role of Fatigue on Camp Nursing Practice Barry A. Garst, PhD Over the next year, the Association of Camp Nursing will embark on new research focusing on the influence of fatigue on the experiences of camp nurses and camp directors in cooperation with the American Camp Association. Defined as “an overwhelming sense of tiredness, lack of energy, and a feeling of exhaustion associated with impaired physical and/or cognitive functioning” (Rogers, 2008), fatigue is recognized as an ever-present factor whose influence on performance as well as on the injury and illness experiences of program participants is poorly understood within the context of camp. Managing the potentially negative influence of fatigue in camp has always been within the scope of a camp nurse’s job. As early as 1934, Elena Williams talked about the importance of controlling fatigue in her book, Keeping Campers Fit: The Theory and Practice of Camp Nursing. This new research recognizes that inadequate sleep and resulting fatigue may have major implications on the health and wellness of camp nurses, directors, and frontline staff, and may compromise the safety of the camp experience. In fact, fatigue has been associated with changes in mood, cognitive problems, reduced motivation and job performance, physiological changes, and safety risks (Rogers, 2008). Fatigue can also be costly to camp administrators by increasing workers’ compensation costs, legal fees, and costs associated with recruitment and training expenses when staff demonstrate poor performance or are not retained due to fatigue-related incidents and/or burnout. Many studies have examined factors impacting fatigue within healthcare settings (see Buysse et al., 2003), but none of these studies have specifically examined fatigue within the context of camp. Thus, the purpose of this emergent study will be to better understand how fatigue is experienced by camp nurses, directors, and frontline staff within the camp setting as well as factors that contribute to fatigue in camps. Ultimately, this project aims to identify promising practices for identifying and reducing the experience of fatigue by camp participants. .working for healthier camp communities by supporting the practice of nursing. The success of this project will depend on you—our ACN members. In early 2018, ACN members will have the opportunity to participate in focus groups that will provide initial data about the role of fatigue in their camp experiences as well as the potential influence of fatigue on the injury and illness experiences of the youth and staff they serve. These focus groups, conducted during the ACN Symposium, will inform a national survey that will be distributed in a larger sample of camp nurses and camp directors during the summer of 2018. More information will be shared as this project evolves. References Buysse, D. J., Barzansky, B., Dinges, D., Hogan, E., Hunt, C. E., Owens, J., Rosekind, M., Rosen, R., Simon, F., Veasey, S., & Wiest, F. (2003, March 1). Sleep, fatigue, and medical training: setting an agenda for optimal learning and patient care. Sleep, 26(2), 218-225. Rogers, A. E. (2008). The effects of fatigue and sleepiness on nurse performance and patient safety. In R. Hughes (Ed.), Patient safety and quality: An evidence-based handbook for nurses. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In This Issue… My View .....................................................................................1 Practice Updates ......................................................................14 Editorial: Science Says, "Smile" .................................................2 Camp Health – Clinically Speaking: Top 10 Suggestions for a Considerations on Camp Nursing ...............................................3 Super Sleuth ............................................................................17 Transitioning to Adulthood: What Does Camp Have Hassle-Free Health Services Summer ......................................18 to Do With It ...............................................................................7 New Products, New Ideas ........................................................20 It Happened This Summer—2017..............................................9 Association News ....................................................................21 Perspectives Worth Sharing: Respite Care Camps: Helping Parents and Children with Special Healthcare Needs ................10 Volume 27, No. 3 – Editorial – Science Says, "Smile!" Full disclosure: I am not a nurse. I’m a full-time writer At 46, that still stings worse than my knee ever did and, and editor. So the perspectives I share with you here in clearly, her words left a lasting impression—not a good one. CompassPoint may be a little different from those you are used Looking back on the experience, a couple of thoughts to—but I’d like to think there is value in getting an outsider’s spring to mind. One: First impressions are powerful ones. perspective now and then. After the name-calling incident, which didn’t instill trust or My first, up-close experience with a nurse wasn’t at camp, confidence, I had to believe I was afflicted with something that but in school. I was in second grade and had just moved mid- put me in mortal danger before I’d pay her another visit. school year to São Paulo, Brazil, following my father’s job Two: I had the right idea. It’s hard to go wrong leading with transfer. I was pre-braces and sported a pair of buck teeth that a smile in situations like that. If my school nurse had smiled were rather large for my diminutive frame. That was enough of back at me instead of drawing attention to what I already a challenge for a shy eight-year-old trying to navigate a new considered a flaw, she would have put me at ease and made school in a foreign land (even if it was an international school the anticipation of future visits to her office far less stressful. where classes were taught in English, except for the obligatory In fact, science backs the benefits of smiling. When our Portuguese class, of course). Then one day I landed in the facial muscles contract in a smile, they transmit a signal back to nurse’s office with a scraped knee. I was a little upset about the brain that stimulates our reward system and increases our the forthcoming antiseptic I knew was going to sting, but I put level of endorphins, our “happy hormones.“ When we smile, our on a brave face and did the one thing I could think of—I smiled brain feels happier (Li, 2014). at the nurse. Scientist Ding Li said, “Just be with someone who smiles. She seemed very official in her traditional, starched, white A Swedish study found that it is indeed difficult to keep a long uniform and pageboy haircut. I expected her to ask my name, face when you look at people who are smiling at you. Smiling how I’d scraped my knee, or if it hurt a lot. What came out is just contagious. Seeing people smile stimulates our mirror instead was “Hello, Rabbit.” Continued on page 9 ACN Board ACN Board Cheryl Bernknopf, RN, BScN* CompassPoint Editor ............................................................................. Marcia Ellett [email protected] 905-771-6577 [email protected] 317-201-7204 Barry Garst, PhD CompassPoint Editorial Board .................................................Kathleen Bochsler, RN [email protected] 540-525-7058 Mary Marugg, RN Jane McEldowney, BS, RN, NCSN Debra Isaacson, RN, DNP Ellen Reynolds, RN, MSN, CPNP [email protected] 785-221-0182 Chris Stephens, MN NP, ENC(C), CFRN Paula Lauer, RN, BAN* American Camp Association (ACA) Liaison ...Tracey C. Gaslin, PhD, CRNI, CPNP, FNP-BC [email protected] 715-572-5075 [email protected] 502-232-2945 Beverly McEntarfar Education Committee ................................(CHAIR) Jeana Wilcox, PhD, RN, CNS, CNE [email protected] 347-220-7103 Cheryl Bernknopf, RN, BScN Marianne Rudd, RN, BSN, CRNI Beth Schultz, RN, DNP Lisa Cranwell-Bruce, DNP, RN, FNP-C Bev McEntarfer [email protected] 904-377-3550 Lorraine Battle, BSN, RN Bev Unger, RN Jeana Wilcox, PhD, RN, CNS, CNE Paula Lauer, RN, BAN Melissa Zampatti, RN [email protected] 816-225-8013 Kelly Edwards, BSN, RN * Designates Executive Committee Member Research Committee ..........................................................(CHAIR) Barry Garst, PhD Beth Shultz, RN, DNP Tricia Huey, DNP, CPNP Founder ......................................................................... Jeanne Otto, RN, MS, MEd Debra Isaacson, RN, DNP Tricia Kardon, RN, BS Executive Director ..................................Tracey C. Gaslin, PhD, CRNI, CPNP, FNP-BC* Ann Laske, EdD, RN, CNE Melissa Zampatti, RN [email protected] 502-232-2945 Roberta Blumberg, RN, BSN Nancy Krahl, RN, MSN, MA Lorraine Battle, RN, BSN Association of Camp Nursing (ACN) 19006 Hunt Country Lane - Fisherville, KY 40023 Phone: 502-232-2945 www.ACN.org Email: [email protected] CompassPoint is an official publication of the Association of Camp Nursing (ACN), a not-for-profit nursing organization.CompassPoint is published four times a year and is intended as an informational resource only. Neither ACN nor its staff can be held liable for the practical application of any ideas found herein. Readers are invited to submit items for publication to Marcia Ellett, Editor, via email at [email protected]. Contents may not be reproduced without prior written consent. Member dues and