Camp Ho Mita Koda

   Arriving at Camp Ho Mita Koda for the first session of my capstone experience caused a mix of emotions. During our undergraduate nursing career, we are taught so much about diabetes that everyone would think that we are all experts. After the training week here at camp, I realized there was so much more to learn about this disease. I was nervous to work with the children here at camp, but also excited because I knew I was going to enjoy my experience.
   During the training week, we learned more about diabetes in a very short amount of time. It was very confusing at first, because there was so much information presented to us in such a short amount of time. We were introduced to insulin pumps, and got a basic training on how to operate them. We learned about insulin,  the importance of having a healthy diet, carbohydrate counting, and so much more during this short week of training. However, the real learning started the day we arrived at camp for the first session, when the children were able to explain and show us everything that we asked them about.
   After the first day here at camp, all of my nerves disappeared. The children here are so smart and love to teach everyone about their diabetes. Any questions that we had, they had an answer and an explanation. It was nice to get information from someone who lives with diabetes and has been managing it for most of their life. I was able to learn a lot more about the insulin pumps which were new to me. The children who used pumps were very helpful and explained every step in order to deliver their dose of insulin, so I feel that I am comfortable with using them. After the first session of being here, I feel that I have learned so much more about diabetes and am so glad that I got to learn from these children.
   Not only do the chilren teach us about diabetes, we are also here to teach them. We have been providing educational sessions to the children about exercise and diabetes management. The sessions have been going very well, and the children seem to be responding in a postive way. The children love to learn from us just as much as we like learning from them, as they are very attentive and focused on learning as much as they can during our short sessions. Camp Ho Mita Koda is a great place for the staff and the children to learn about diabetes, and I know that I will take what I have learned here and apply it in the future.