We have four pillars of our program ministry at Covenant Pines Ministries: Safe, Fun, Gospel and Experience. We take that first pillar very seriously and implement many practices to ensure campers have a safe week at camp. One those practices is having trained medical staff on site every week at camp caring for the safety and well being of our campers!
Our medical staff at CPBC is a group of volunteer, licensed medical professionals. Every week we have two “Camp Nurses” on site who provide care for campers. We have ER Doctors, night shift nurses, pediatric specialty nurses, school nurses, NPs and PAs throughout the summer who spend a week at Covenant Pines as the camp nurse. We have 2-3 medical staff at camp at all times to provide everyone with a break and to manage all the tasks. The team spends time getting to know each camper and spends the week administering medications, helping campers when they get hurt or aren’t feeling well, and often providing some emotional support to campers who are homesick or need some extra TLC.
One of our lead nurses, Jen Good describes a day as a nurse like this, “Grabbing a cup of coffee or tea and heading off for breakfast to pass morning medications to campers. Between meals we hang around the health center or watch camp activities to be available for any injured or ill campers. Heath center staff is welcome to participate in chapels and other camp activities during the day and that’s a fun way to get to know the campers. In the evening we reset all the medications for the next day, help prepare for the following week of camp, and often get a little time to relax before campers head off for bed. Sometimes there’s time for a little relaxing in a hammock, reading a book, or having a nice chat with campers.”
Being a camp nurse is a rewarding experience, as you get the unique opportunity to get to know and engage with every camper. You also get time to experience camp, enjoy the outdoors and witness campers taking their next step in Christian faith. It is a great way to spend a week of your summer! Not to mention, if you volunteer as a camp nurse, you get a credit for a free week of camp for a camper of your own. Jen adds this,
“The best perk is no cooking or doing dishes for an entire week (unless you enjoy it and want to pitch in to help the kitchen crew, which some of us do, but it’s never expected)! Just being at camp and enjoying the beauty and connections with God is a perk. Camp also gives one free camper registration for volunteers in the health center. If you have a child anxious about going to camp alone, this is a great way to “be there” and also give them a sense of independence in their camp experience. They love knowing their parent or grandparent is there if they need them. I also love coaching a camper who’s really missing home, or is away for the first time, through their fears and seeing the joy in their face when they make it through the week. I also LOVE connecting with the high school students and having some “real” life conversations. We are there to support the whole camper, and that often means caring for their minds and souls, as much as their bodies. We have a unique connection with campers, and a freezie pop or a hug always deepens it even more.”
We are looking for licensed medical professionals to join our 2025 medical staff at Covenant Pines. We’d love to have you join us! If you are interested or have questions, email Jen Good. She can be reached at nurse@covenantpines.org!
