Using surgical tools to remove colorful Skittles candy from a mannequin was one of the hands-on lessons for Kentwood students during MultiCare Health System’s ninth-annual Nurse Camp that ran July 16-20 in Tacoma.

During the five-day camp the students got an inside look at careers in health care, and spent time in various departments at all four of MultiCare’s hospitals, as well as six local colleges and universities, and participated in rotations throughout the hospital.

Throughout the program, students shadowed professional nurses and health care providers as they care for patients in the Emergency Department, intensive care unit, surgical care areas, inpatient units and allied health areas at Tacoma General Hospital, Allenmore Hospital and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, as well as Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup.