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Purpose: Obtaining meaningful clinical experiences with paediatric and perinatal (young families) populations is increasingly challenging for nursing programs. Care for this population has largely moved to outpatient and tertiary settings. Therefore, a current trend is to use non-traditional clinical settings. While summer camps offer rich learning experiences for nursing students, they are seldom used as clinical placements. Faculty at an Atlantic Canadian university sought a novel way to engage students in young families' learning by partnering with overnight summer camps, staffed by counsellors, camp administrators, and on-site nurses. Campers included those with lived experience of cancer, diabetes, physical and developmental challenges, and socioeconomic challenges. This study assesses how young families course outcomes were met by an innovative clinical experience within a Bachelor of Nursing program and describes the perceptions and experiences of those involved., Methods: Study participants included students (n = 4), camp directors (n = 3), a camp nurse (n = 1), and the clinical educator (n = 1). Data collection involved semi-structured interviews and a focus group. Interpretive description methodology was used to identify themes and patterns related to overarching research questions., Findings: Students met the outcomes and overall participant perceptions and experiences were positive. However, some participants shared constructive critiques for future consideration., Conclusions: Nursing students who completed a young families clinical placement at summer camps met course outcomes, and those involved reported both positive experiences and constructive critiques for future consideration., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

This article is about Camp Hope, a two-week summer day program for children age 6-12 from low income families and violent neighborhoods and for children who are struggling academically or identified as having behavioral health issues. The camp is operated by House of Peace and Education (HOPE) a 501(c)(3) nonprofit company that began in 1996. The program is designed to offer enrichment activities in a caring community for young children. The theoretical framework behind the vision and policies is Parse's humanbecoming paradigm. In particular, the camp administrators and staff try to see all persons as co-creating of their everchanging humanuniverse process., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

After a brief consideration of the types of camps, this introduction questions what is the most beneficial aspect of a two week summer day camp for children living in disadvantaged circumstances or struggling in school? Is it a formal educational program or professional-lead therapeutic activities or the provision of an opportunity for children to play with peers in a relaxed, scenic and supportive place? The introduction suggests that being with peers living with similar circumstances or challenges while being in a scenic place with supportive staff and having the opportunity to play may provide such children with a greater good., (© The Author(s) 2015.)