Nursing and Service Learning Partnerships: Implementation Of a Community Breast Cancer Awareness Outreach
Nursing and Service Learning Partnerships: Implementation Of a Community Breast Cancer Awareness Outreach
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Title: Nursing and Service Learning Partnerships: Implementation Of a Community Breast Cancer Awareness Outreach
Discipline: Childbearing (CB), Women’s Health (WH)
Learning Objectives:
Submission Description:- Describe how the concept of service learning serves as a catalyst for a community health outreach.
- Name three methods of breast cancer awareness activities employed by nursing students.
- Identify how women's health may benefit by service learning parterships.
• Purpose for the program: Service Learning is a method to connect nursing students to their community by assessment of an identified health need. Students engage community participants with health instruction, forming mutually beneficial partnerships. This collaboration instills a sense of civic engagement as students serve as advocates for health promotion within their communities.
• Proposed change: A community needs assessment was utilized to recognize a high rate of breast cancer in the state and parish. The purpose of the service learning project was to provide education to women of all ages on breast cancer awareness (BCA). A community wide approach to reach all age groups was implemented.This community outreach proposal was enabled by a grant funded from the Northeast Louisiana Affiliate (NELA) of Susan G. Komen. The purpose of this grant was to provide funding for educational materials from Komen to the community by nursing students in a variety of methods, all utilizing service learning.
• Implementation, outcomes and evaluation: BCA educational materials that targeted women of all ages, race, and ethnicities were utilized. Nursing students engaged these women in a variety of settings: the parish medical center allowed nursing students to participate in a BCA event, area churches sponsored health and wellness fairs in which BCA booths were present, and community based awareness outreaches were planned to target adult women. Students enrolled in the Maternal Newborn Nursing course for which the service learning project is a clinical component targeted their peers in the annual university campus health symposium that emphasized the “know your normal” focus on self awareness for young women. New mothers on the postpartum unit received BCA materials as part of nursing students’ clinical experiences. The largest outreach by students was the “Bulldogs Tackling Breast Cancer” football game. Nursing students hosted educational booths at each stadium entrance, and engaged the community with educational displays, BSE models, and distribution of Komen materials.These activities attained success as service learning endeavors, meeting the overall objective: improving the health of citizens of the community in which these students live and will serve as registered nurses. Service learning evaluations completed by students and agency partners positively validate this partnership success.
• Implications for nursing practice: Nursing students gain awareness of breast cancer, commit to make a positive health impact on the community, commit to a plan of action to implement health education for women, and engage the community through implementation of their service learning breast cancer awareness project.
• Keywords: service learning, breast cancer awareness, community outreach
• Proposed change: A community needs assessment was utilized to recognize a high rate of breast cancer in the state and parish. The purpose of the service learning project was to provide education to women of all ages on breast cancer awareness (BCA). A community wide approach to reach all age groups was implemented.This community outreach proposal was enabled by a grant funded from the Northeast Louisiana Affiliate (NELA) of Susan G. Komen. The purpose of this grant was to provide funding for educational materials from Komen to the community by nursing students in a variety of methods, all utilizing service learning.
• Implementation, outcomes and evaluation: BCA educational materials that targeted women of all ages, race, and ethnicities were utilized. Nursing students engaged these women in a variety of settings: the parish medical center allowed nursing students to participate in a BCA event, area churches sponsored health and wellness fairs in which BCA booths were present, and community based awareness outreaches were planned to target adult women. Students enrolled in the Maternal Newborn Nursing course for which the service learning project is a clinical component targeted their peers in the annual university campus health symposium that emphasized the “know your normal” focus on self awareness for young women. New mothers on the postpartum unit received BCA materials as part of nursing students’ clinical experiences. The largest outreach by students was the “Bulldogs Tackling Breast Cancer” football game. Nursing students hosted educational booths at each stadium entrance, and engaged the community with educational displays, BSE models, and distribution of Komen materials.These activities attained success as service learning endeavors, meeting the overall objective: improving the health of citizens of the community in which these students live and will serve as registered nurses. Service learning evaluations completed by students and agency partners positively validate this partnership success.
• Implications for nursing practice: Nursing students gain awareness of breast cancer, commit to make a positive health impact on the community, commit to a plan of action to implement health education for women, and engage the community through implementation of their service learning breast cancer awareness project.
• Keywords: service learning, breast cancer awareness, community outreach