MSU Nursing Program Blends Coursework and Community Care at Camp SMILE
For many students, electives are a way to earn credits, but for Morehead State University nursing students, one course is also a chance to serve their community and gain life-changing perspective.
Thanks to a partnership between Morehead State’s Department of Nursing and UK St. Claire Regional Hospice & Palliative Care in Morehead, MSU nursing students can gain unique experience working with children at Camp SMILE while working toward their nursing degree.
Camp SMILE (Sharing Memories In a Loving Environment) is a bereavement camp for young children who have lost a loved one. Children ages 7-17 get to experience the outdoors, take part in fun activities, share stories and form friendships with their fellow campers while working with counselors and peers to process and overcome feelings of grief and loss.
Camp SMILE was created in 2004 by St. Claire Healthcare (now UK St. Claire). Teresa Howell (Class of 1980, 1981), retired professor of nursing at MSU, helped develop the 2-credit-hour course NURS 385 Camp Nursing, giving nursing students the opportunity to complete their work-study requirement at Camp SMILE. Currently taught by Pre-licensure Program Coordinator and Professor of Nursing Dr. Nathania Bush, the course has been offered for 19 years and has seen countless MSU nursing students benefit in a variety of ways.
“It extends the knowledge base for them related to bereavement and end-of-life care,” Bush said. “It’s not just helping the camper. It’s helping the nursing student as well, and it’s ultimately going to make them a better nurse.”
Andrew Sexton (Class of 2020, 2022), coordinator of service learning with MSU’s Center for Career Development & Experiential Education, said when MSU was recently reclassified as a community engaged institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, they highlighted how MSU was able to help nursing students gain unique, real-world experience through Camp SMILE.
“The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching really appreciated the long-term relationship that Camp SMILE has with UK St. Claire and its benefit for the community,” Sexton said. “Many children and youth have lost parents/guardians to addiction, sickness, or other factors, and this program provides comfort and recreation for those learning to manage grief.”
Emma Moudy (Class of 2024) graduated from MSU with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and currently works in the Orthopedic Neuro Unit at Baptist Health in Lexington. She completed the NURS Camp Nursing course while earning her degree. Admittedly, taking the class partially because she was grieving the loss of a loved one herself, Moudy said Camp SMILE is a true benefit to everyone involved.
“It’s kind of helped me in a way to help open up the conversation about death...in a way that this is not the end and it’s not a disgrace to them. We are not giving up. We are giving them an end with dignity,” she said. “I think that it’s always good to be able to talk to people about their emotions and create a safe space to be able to talk to you, even if it is not about death or grieving or dying.”
Moudy said she has continued to volunteer at the camp during the summer months because of her connection to the children and continues to be inspired by how they find their own ways to work through their circumstances.
“The kids come in and they are so knowledgeable and some of the bravest, most resilient people I know to have gone through so much loss and so much trauma so young in their life...and at the end of the day, their growth is outstanding,” she said. “I’ve seen how much it has changed me and my mindset, and I think if I can go back and just help one kid through what they are going through...then I think that is well worth it.”
Bush said the Camp SMILE course offered to students at MSU equips them with additional skills they can use in their careers and has even led some nurses to immediately alter their career plans, going to work at UK St. Claire Hospice because of the impact the experience had on them. She plans to do her part to ensure the class and partnership continue, and that more students and campers leave changed for the better.
“We have been so blessed,” Bush said. “It’s just continued to be a beautiful thing, so as long as I’m at MSU, I hope that Camp SMILE still happens and I hope it continues after I’m gone.”
For additional information, contact UK St. Claire Regional Hospice & Palliative Care at 606-783-6812 or the Morehead State University Department of Nursing at 606-783-2296.
Photo: Emma Moudy (far left) is one of several MSU nursing students and nursing alumni who volunteer at the Camp SMILE bereavement camp.
