Student: Hazel Ashby
Professor: Faye Scott
College: NYCCT
Community Health Clinical Journal # 1
Date: February 13th 2012
After having several weeks off I headed off to my community health clinical with some mixed feelings. I was excited to advance to another level but I was anxious of having a new instructor who I knew nothing about. The traffic can be a bit unpredictable driving into the city, so I left extremely early to prevent any delays or being tardy. I arrived at Center for Nursing Rehabilitation (CNR) located at 5506 Church Avenue in Brooklyn at 7:03am. I sat in my car for an hour before one of my fellow class mates arrived, shortly after everyone trickled in. Our clinical professor Mrs. Faye Scott met us there. She spoke with the group and voiced her expectations of us during our clinical rotation. Then she proceeded to give us a tour of the facility.
We then returned to the locker area were we will be having our pre and post conferences. The CNR is a branch or member of the Beth Abraham Family of Health Services. There are other locations in Brooklyn and Jamaica Queens which provide similar services to those communities. Some of the services they provide here in there East Flatbush area are Health monitoring, Nursing Care, Rehabilitation Therapy, Social Work Services, exercises, arts and crafts, day trips, and assistance with personal care. They are adequately staffed with a Program Director, two Registered Nurses, three Certified Nursing Assistants, Social Worker, Clerk, Security personnel, a Doctor and a very energetic Activity Coordinator.
Our clinical group introduced ourselves to the registrars after we intermingled with them on a one to one basis. They were all quite pleasant and were very receptive of the group. Observing them there was very fulfilling to me, yet I felt a great feeling of sadness. It made me feel like I was at home in the Caribbean hearing the local people in the community talk and have fun together. Then I began to think about my Mom who recently died. I wondered. If this type of service was available to her it would have taken off some stress on my older sister. She was the one who was left with this tremendous chore of taking care of our mother. She did this alone for the last four years of my Mom’s life, until we got someone to fill in on the weekend. My Mom had Alzheimer disease which lead to dementia, visiting her for a week or two was not sufficient support for my Sister who was already retired.
I can see how this type of services is being an aid to the registrars and their family. Their love ones can safely go to work knowing their Mom, Dad, Grandma or whichever member of the family that is enrolled in the program. At CNR they are in a safe environment. They are provided with nutritional snacks and meals. They have available transport door to door, they are not allowed to walk or take public transport to the center. They also get health teachings on a wide variety of subjects. I am looking forward to completing my rotation here at CNR. I know my experience here will be worth the while.
The CNR facility is truly providing a concept of community for these registrars. According to (Allender et al) community health is the identification of needs, along with the protection and improvement of collective health, within a geographically defined area.
Reference
Allender, J. A., Rector, C., & Wagner, K. D. ET AL. (2010). Community Health Nursing:
Promoting & Protecting the Public Heath (7TH ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Hazel J. Ashby
Week 11 Journal
New York City College of Technology
Professor: Faye Scott
April 25, 2012
The past clinical experience was a bitter sweet event. The registrars found out the day prior that the center was going to be closed within the next 90-120 days. They were all sad; it was as though someone had died. There were faces of mixed emotions. The look on the registrars faces were that of sorrow, fear, anger, disbelief, and turmoil. THE Director came to speak with them and several of the registrars literally attacked her. These elderly clients were so furious, they were yelling to the top of their voices. This was a side of them which we had never seen before.
We were always greeted by this calm group of seniors who wore smiles and greeted us with hugs. This was not the case last clinical. This was a total shock for me and my colleagues. We began wondering where they will be placed and how sad it would be to separate them. This group of people has become so close and shares such concern amongst each other.
The only thing which cheered me up during the whole experience was seeing Carma my colleague do her presentation. This was not the same Carma who walked in those doors early March. This was a seasoned Carma. She executed her presentation as a natural Nurse Educator. This brought some joy into my heart. I could not wait to commend her after this excellent presentation.
