The purpose of the Service Learning experience is to focus on health promotion and disease prevention activities for various client populations in the community
CRITERIA FOR SERVICE LEARNING EXPERIENCE AND PAPER
Purpose
The purpose of the Service Learning experience is to focus on health promotion and disease prevention activities for various client populations in the community. Students will learn about community resources, identify health care needs within the community, and plan a health promotion activity designed to address those needs.
Methodology
Service learning is experiential learning through service that meets identified community needs, and is structured to make connections between the service activity and the theory. Students provide 12 hours of service to learn about resources provided by local community agencies and ways that nurses can address health promotion and wellness for various client groups within the community.
Objectives
1. Plan a health promotion activity designed to meet the needs of the clients/community served by the agency.
2. Reflect on the role of the nurse in community health.
3. Demonstrate the following information literacy skills: search and utilize scholarly journals and reputable web sites, synthesize and properly cite information from professional journals and electronic resources.
Requirements
• The Service Leaning Experience is a requirement for Nursing 235. Students must complete the 12 service hours at a designated community agency to fulfill the clinical requirements for NURS 235. The Service Learning Paper will account for 20% of the course grade for NURS-235.
• Students are responsible for following the procedures and completing the forms as outlined in the Service Learning Student Handbook.
The Handbook and forms are available online at www.howardcc.edu/centerforservicelearning.
• Students are responsible for making the initial contact with the agency. Select a community agency from the Service Learning Agency
Directory that interests you and meets the objectives of the experience. Please note that some agencies require an orientation which is not included in the 12 hours of service at the agency. The Service Learning Student Handbook includes a section on suggestions for contacting service sites.
• Meet with the Agency Coordinator, discuss agency/community needs, and complete the Service Learning Placement Agreement . The student is responsible for obtaining approval from the agency coordinator and the Course Leader/Full-time Faculty prior to beginning the service learning experience. Nursing students are not to provide direct patient care or perform any invasive interventions (dressing changes, or blood glucose monitoring, etc.) or do primarily clerical work.
• Students are to adhere to the Dress Code while working at the Agency. Some agencies such as the Evelyn Jordan Center may require a lab coat and HCC name badge.
• For questions regarding the Service Learning Experience or paper contact the Course Leader. If you have difficulty finding an agency,
• Document your hours on the Service Learning Hours Log. The agency coordinator or supervisor initials is required for each time period with their signature at the bottom of the form certifying that you have completed the hours recorded. This provides written documentation that you have fulfilled the assigned hours.
• At the completion of your hours at the agency, have the agency coordinator or supervisor complete the Service Learning Assessment (evaluation). Submit the Hours Log and Service Learning Assessment on the due date.
• Submit a hard copy of your paper with your reflective journal (blue book), copy of project and articles, and Grading Sheet on the due date. This this should be turned in at the Health Sciences Division office (HS 236) with your clinical faculty member’s name.
• Share your service learning experience with your peers on an assigned clinical date. Your presentation should be approximately 5 minutes in length & include a brief description of the agency and service it provides to the community, and a summary and/or demonstration of the health promotion activity. Bring handouts to share with the group.
Please note: Students may work at the same agency if approved by the Agency Coordinator; however only two students can work on the same project and each student needs to obtain their own approval forms and submit their own written assignment, journal entries, and Service Learning Hours Log.
