SERVICE LEARNING
NURS 492: COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING
During this course, I engaged and collaborated with the community as the primary recipient of professional nursing care. The focus was on community wellness, interaction with political influences, and epidemiological principles to promote patients’ health and well-being. Throughout the course, I learned about the interconnection and impact of social, environmental, and financial aspects on a community’s health. Moreover, I practiced the application of primary, secondary, and tertiary preventive strategies on the health of the population.
My community partner were refugees from Ukraine who fled the war zones. Those families came to America with barely anything, experienced the language barrier, and lacked social support but had a safe environment for themselves and their kids. As an immigrant myself, I could not stay distant. Having experience in assimilating, it was my inner calling to help families in need. Being a nurse and resident of the community, it was beneficial to provide valuable resources within the area to facilitate Ukrainian refugees acclimating to living in the United States.
Thus, in my clinical application paper, I described the process of locating, selecting, and working with immigrants from Ukraine in need within the community and assisting in adapting to a new environment.
Also, during this course, I had the opportunity to participate in the Climate for Health Ambassador training. This webinar gave me insight into accelerating climate change and its impact on public health. At the end of the training, I learned about methods of change and available resources to change climate solutions to protect and preserve community health.
FUTURE GOALS
Although working with refugee families was emotionally challenging, by the end of my project, I felt empowered that I was able to help and make a difference. I believe having a tight connection with the community is essential just because the hospital patients come from it and return to it. A healthier community would have healthier patients. I will continue finding ways to give back to the community in any possible way.