Wednesday, June 24, 2009

High school students from eight North Carolina counties are earning four years of healthcare experience and nursing assistant training before they even apply for college.

Camp BONES (Brigade of Nurse Exploring Seahawks), a University of North Carolina Wilmington health academy, is preparing underrepresented middle and high school students to be successful in college and health science careers with hands-on training ranging from monitoring vital signs to infant delivery. The media is invited cover Camp BONES activities June 24 - 29.

During a few weeks of the summer and two weekends a year, Camp BONES students live on the UNC Wilmington campus and learn traditional nursing skills from faculty. Participants, many who are from rural areas of N.C., are exposed to unique hands-on experiences like triaging a mass casualty disaster drill and facilitating a health summit for 200+ peers.

The first class of Camp BONES students, who began the program in 2006, are currently undergoing training to become nursing assistants, which when completed allows students to be listed on the N.C. Nurse Aide Registry and perform jobs in areas like home health. This rare opportunity can help students prepare for college and give them an advantage in the job market. A model program for Winston-Salem State University is currently underway for Forsyth and surrounding N.C. counties.

Interviews with participating students are available.

Visual opps:
Wednesday, June 24 - Thursday, June 25 from 8 a.m. - noon & 1:15 - 5 p.m.
Nurse Assistant hands-on training, Laney High School

Friday, June 26 - Tuesday, June 30 from 8 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Nurse Assistant hands-on clinicals, Cypress Pointe Rehabilitation and Health Care Centre, 2006 S. 16th Street

Media Contacts:
Joy Davis, UNCW Marketing and Communications, 910.916.8603 or davisjc@uncw.edu