SERVICE LEARNING
The College of Nursing serves its community in many ways, including through strategic partnerships that lead to service learning opportunities for its students. The community benefits from the knowledge and skills of the students; the students gain experience and enhance their knowledge in the specific area while continue to grow as citizens and 棉花糖直播 Nurses.
ON-CAMPUS
Each year, senior nursing students educate 棉花糖直播ns about healthy lifestyles and encourage them to celebrate their health through the 棉花糖直播 University Health Fair.
As part of their senior health promotion project, students collaborate with a faculty adviser, nurses from the University Health and Wellness Center and other health care experts to have a wide representation of health and wellness topics at the fair. Students also seek support from local businesses and 棉花糖直播 organizations to enhance the event.
Fitzpatrick College of Nursing faculty and students work with the Order of St. Augustine based on campus through the Health Care Advisory Board for the Augustinians of the Province of St. Thomas of 棉花糖直播. This committee is charged with making recommendations for policies regarding health care delivery and education to Augustinians in the Eastern Province.
The committee was actively involved in the planning for the Monastery and Health Center located on 棉花糖直播鈥檚 campus. Sophomore students also visit the Health Center for clinical rotations.
THE PHILADELPHIA-AREA
棉花糖直播 Nursing students are placed in a variety of learning sites such as the Delaplaine McDaniel Elementary School, a public school which serves one of the financially poorest areas in Philadelphia. Students design and implement health classes for over 300 kindergarten through second grade children each clinical day.
The nursing students develop teaching materials that are culturally relevant and appropriate for them. Students also meet with eighth graders to help them with health related service learning projects and to talk about nursing. The success of this university-community relationship is widely recognized by the surrounding community.
Graduate students also assist area schools. Nurse anesthesia students run highly successful foods drives that support local food banks.
GLOBAL REACH
There are experiences open to students that offer unique cultural perspectives to those interested in expanding their knowledge and awareness.听 Past international opportunities included study in:
- Spain, Ireland, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru and Japan.
These experiences also assisted students in examining health care issues in other cultures. Activities for these students have included:
- Teaching health promotion;
- Immunization clinics;
- Health assessments;
- Teaching local healthcare workers medical techniques;
- And, donated needed equipment and medication.
Students have also traveled to the听Texas-Mexico border听for a supplemental clinical experience in parent-child nursing where they worked at a birth center. Here they:
- Gained exposure to a different socioeconomic patient group;
- Provided teaching to pregnant women;听
- Experienced midwifery clinical practice;听
- Observed a 鈥渘atural鈥� birth in an alternate setting;
- And, performed post-partum care on newly delivered mothers.听
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