Hello to all who have been following my blog since my inital posts in Spring 2011! I have continued my service learning experiences at the Good Samaritan Clinic in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Since my last posting in the summer, I have been involved in many projects at the clinic. In September 2011, I was involved in planning and implementing a Fall Health Fair for the clients and the public. The services offered were health screenings for glucose levels, hypertension, and height/weight/BMI measurements, and health promotion offerings related to nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, and medication use. The volunteers at the health fair included faculty members, undergraduate senior nursing students, and clinic executive director. We screened approximately 30 persons in a 3 hour time period. We are currently planning for a health fair in April and hope to increase attendance for this event.
What are you currently doing with this organization and how do you see it evolving as you sustain your commitment to them?
Currently I am actively engaged in offering diabetic education classes at the clinic in combination with senior level nursing students in their community health clinical rotation. The students are offering classes once or twice per month, and I am offering additional classes that will support their efforts and maintain a routine schedule of classes for the clients. I am commited to maintaining my commitment to the clinic, and will offer classes during the months of May, June, and July as well. Additional commitments include planning and implementing a Spring Health Fair during April. The plans will be ongoing and will also include initial plans for a Fall Health Fair in September.
What do you envision being the shortcomings and strength of your service learning commitment?
The shortcomings of my service learning commitment include the limited amount of time dedicated to the clinic due to work and school obligations. My future plans include dedicating more time at the clinic in order to continue educational offerings and volunteering my services as an FNP to provide healthcare services on evenings and weekends. After completing my DNP degree, I hope to begin writing grants in order to obtain additional funding for educational offerings at the clinic.
The strengths of my service learning commitment include being able to offer classes aimed at health promotion and disease prevention. These classes were not being offered onsite before I began my service learning. The clients now have access to health information in a supportive atmosphere onsite at the clinic. The health fairs are another strength of my service learning commitment. The clients were very appreciative of having an opportunity to participate and include their family members and friends. The health fair was advertised to the public via a newpaper ad. Advertisement for the next health fair will include radio promotion as well. Hopefully the attendance will improve with each offering.
Thanks for following my blog! Take care and God Bless!
Felicia P.
Hi Felicia,
ReplyDeleteYou have done so much through your commitment to service in your community. You have brought prevention education and health promotion to a population with limited access. I can't say enough about the increadable work you are doing. Your commitment is commendable. you are changing lives in your community for the better. Best wishes with your practice in the future, you have much to offer.
Janet W
Hi Jan!
DeleteThanks so much for following my service learning blog! I really appreciate your comments. I have learned so much through service learning, and my life has been enriched throughout the process. I look forward to my future commitments at Good Samaritan Clinic.
Take care and God Bless!
Felicia
Felicia
ReplyDeleteOne of the most important lessons I learned from the Regis DNP Program is the need to help the underserved. You certainly met that need by taking time out of your busy schedule to help the community. If each one of us took an hour a week to help someone in need the world would be a better place.
Loeb's(1999)article,The Real Rosa Parks,addresses the fact that social change is made incrementally by ordinary people doing the right thing,not by larger-than-life lone activists. Rosa Park's refusal to give up her seat in the "white" section of the bus,earning her the title of the 'mother of the civils rights movement',was preceded by many unrecognized people working towards the same mission.
It is imperative that each and every one of us take time out of our busy lives to help those in need because as Loeb puts it, "Park's journey suggests that change is the product of deliberate, incremental action...and only when we act despite all our uncertainties and doubts do we have the chance to shape history"(p. 292).
Loeb, P.(1999). Chapter Thirty-Four:The Real Rosa Parks. Soul of a Citizen:Living by Conviction in a Cynical Time:St. Martin's Press. www.soulofacitizen.org
Hi Tish!
DeleteThanks so much for following my service learning blog! I really appreciate your sharing of your thoughts on serving others. My life has been enriched by my service learning activities and I hope to continue for many years to come.
Take care and God Bless!
Felicia
Hi Felicia,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful service learning project! I worked with an underserved clinic during my clinicals as an FNP student and also for a couple of months following graduation before we relocated to Nebraska. These underserved clinics have such great needs and your project is helping to address some very important ones! The work you are doing is so very important!
Cassie
Hi Cassie!
DeleteThanks so much for following my blog! I appreciate your comments and sharing your experiences as an FNP student. I too was privileged to be able to do clinicals in several underserved and rural clinics during my FNP clinicals. I chose Good Samaritan Clinic because of their mission of service, and the great experiences that I had while performing some of my clinical hours there as a student.
Take care and God Bless!
Felicia