Narrative Self-Reflection of Service Learning Project
Introduction
As a nursing student at City Tech, there is extreme importance in being involved in the community setting. For the Fall 2015 semester, I have been assigned to First Steps in Brownsville. Brownsville is a neighborhood located in Eastern Brooklyn, which has one of the largest poverty rates in the area. First Steps was opened a year ago, which has given children a chance to grow and broaden their minds academically. Being part of this facility during the semester has shaped my role as a nurse in the community.
Objective 1: Demonstrates individual professionalism through personal behaviors and appearance.
During my clinical time at First Steps, working with the children has been a good experience. Many of the children have taken the time to engage with us and communicate in various ways. As a clinical group, we always maintain confidentiality when it comes to personal situations that children have been involved it. We discuss these issues in a private area where confidentiality may be maintained. At First Steps, we are expected to arrive at 8:30 am in scrubs and wearing an ID badge. Our professor informs us ahead of time what the objectives are for each week and what we are expected to accomplish.
As nursing students, we are expected to engage with the children and complete our assigned tasks. At the end of our clinical time, we meet as a group and discuss how the day progressed. The discussions have created an open communication amongst the instructor and us. I’ve been able to ask questions and receive feedback for the information I was seeking. We have also worked as a group to find information pertaining to the neighborhood.
Objective 2: Employ analytical reasoning and critical thinking skills when providing care to individuals and families in the community setting.
At First Steps, I have had the opportunity to use my critical thinking skills and put it into practice. Several children I have interacted with have had behavior problems. For example, some may be disruptive during class time, engage other children in inappropriate behavior, and effect classmates around them. Together with the teachers, we have taken time to assess and evaluate each situation with the students involved. Giving them time to express themselves away from other classmates has improved communication amongst teacher and student. This has created opportunity for growth. As a nursing student in this environment, I am constantly using critical thinking skills to solve issues within the classroom setting.
Objective 3: Effectively communicate with diverse groups and disciplines using a variety of strategies regarding the health needs of individuals and families in the community setting.
Because Brownsville is one of the most poverty stricken neighborhoods in Brooklyn, many individuals do not have access to health care services. As nurses at First Steps, one of our main goals was to provide awareness to the community. My clinical group and myself came together to provide various parent workshops about asthma, immunizations/flu shot, and emergency preparedness. During these workshops, we were able to engage many parents and provide knowledge about prevention.
Therapeutic communication has been important in our time with the children at First Steps. Many of the children were unsure about our presence in their classrooms and now we are welcomed each week. The children have grown accustom to being with us and have developed trust. I have used skills of active listening, sharing empathy, and clarifying while communicating with the parents as well as the children.
Objective 4: Establish environment conducive to learning and use a plan for learners based on evidence-based practice.
While at First Steps, we have created several parent workshops to engage the parents in healthcare awareness. With the students, my partner and I have worked on tying shoes with our 4-year-old group. Tying shoes has been a difficult task, but many of the children have already learned how to do so. We have also developed a lesson plan to implement nutrition importance for the children. We collaborated with the teachers and developed a plan to teach the students about different vegetables. For example, we purchased various vegetables for the children to taste test and also cut them up into different shapes so the children can group them in several categories. This lesson incorporated nutritional value and academic knowledge.
Objective 5: Utilize informational technology when managing individual and families in the community.
Our clinical setting has not allowed us to use informational technology with the students. We have used technology outside of the classrooms to do research and communicate as group members. During our research, we communicate using a group e-mail to send each other information when requested. We have also used this time to update on our Service Learning Project duties.
Objective 6: Demonstrate a commitment to professional development.
While researching the area of Brownsville, I have found that the Brownsville Partnership is coming together to engage more businesses to develop in the area. One of the main struggles of engaging the community and creating change is the vast majority of public housing. This takes away the opportunity for more businesses to develop in Brownsville. This also creates a struggle for more healthcare centers to emerge and care for those who need medical assistance. Because there is difficulty in providing care for these clients, as nurses we have expanded our knowledge to create more availability to find resources for the community.
Objective 7: Incorporate professional nursing standards and accountability into practice.
The American Nurses Association Standards were used in my practice at this clinical site. I was able to maintain confidentiality and provide the best care without doing harm to the community in Brownsville. First Steps mission includes providing a safe environment for its students, which I have kept in mind during my time there. First Steps prides itself in being able to provide an environment where parents and children can work together to develop trusting relationships with each other and staff.
Objective 8: Collaborate with clients, significant support persons and members of the health care team.
Supporting the community in Brownsville helped address problems they are facing as well as individual client needs. In this community, we have provided information on asthma, immunizations/flu shots, and emergency preparedness. We created flyers and gave out pamphlets to community member’s part of First Steps. In our pamphlets we provided more resources that are available for everyone online. We were able to answer specific questions during our workshops. This provided more open communication about health concerns.
Objective 9: Recognize the impact of economic, political, social, and demographic forces that affect the delivery of health care services.
I have recognized several gaps in the health care system this semester. Many populations that reside in poverty stricken areas are neglected when it comes to health care services. Issues include lack of transportation, money, and availability of health centers in these areas. As a nurse, I was given the opportunity to engage the community in discussions that were not done before. Providing these resources to the Brownsville community has helped implement changes. In order for more positive change to take place, the community needs access to these services.
Conclusion
In conclusion, being a part of this Service Learning Project has broadened my experience in terms of what’s going on in the community. As a resident of Brooklyn, when you only reside in one community, you don’t realize what’s going on around you. When you get the opportunity to be exposed to other communities that need various resources, it makes you think how much of an impact a community nurse can make. In order for nurses to be more open minded, we must participate in the community and provide information to those who would never receive it otherwise. We can make a change together.
