|
UConn Nursing in Connecticut’s Inner City In September 2007, UConn’s Health Center enrolled its first cohort of Urban Health Scholars, three or four students each from the Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, Pharmacy, and Nursing. (Only nursing members are undergraduates.) Urban Service Track Scholars are selected from academically qualified applicants with passions for inner-city practice. The program’s purpose is to build a trustworthy pipeline of healthcare professionals to care for chronically underserved urban communities throughout Connecticut. While fulfilling their own Schools’ standard classroom/clinic requirements, Scholars also participate in extensive training and mentoring – cultural/linguistic competencies, community resources, and health-care financing/management. Over the course of their service, cohort members will master eleven “competencies,” then meet for retreats on each. They will be exposed to an array of interdisciplinary experiences, to hone their interaction skills in community settings, and to prepare them for the intriguing challenges and unique opportunities that they will encounter in the urban field. During UConn’s Primary Care Week Community Health Fair in Hartford, Urban-Track Scholar Caitlin Mulligan (SON, ’10) delivered health-information packets and services (glucose testing, blood-pressure readings) to Hartford inner-city Fair attendees. She reflects on that first experience: “I believe everyone has a right to health care. Even when I was in high school, I knew I wanted to be a nurse in an inner-city environment. That day in Hartford was my first opportunity for the hands-on nursing experience I’d dreamed about for years. It was excellent!” Pictured above right is Master’s student, Alyssa Monaco ’03, at the Hispanic Health Center in Hartford, one of the area sites participating in the October 31, Urban Service health fair. UConn
School of Nursing holds Nursing Workshop for CT Scouts Junior nursing student, Leslie Gumbs (left) and Boy Scout assistant, Gabriel Diaz (right), listened to the heartbeat of a fellow scout during the health education workshop held on Storrs campus. Each scout was awarded the first UConn School of Nursing scout badge for successful completion of the program. Saint Joseph College student reflections on Guyana Emersion Experience
Lynette Galgano writes this about her experience in Guyana: “As the classes about Guyana began, I realized that my big dream of saving Guyana was probably not going to happen. You see, the people of Guyana do not need people to come down and 'save' them. They simply need aid in obtaining more current technologies and the education that goes along with those technologies. The nursing program at the public hospital is different from the four year degree programs we are used to in the US. It is a three year program with no spring, summer or winter break, and long clinical hours. Once a student graduates you are placed as an RN in the last clinical rotation you were assigned as a student. The RNs work long days and weeks, but are paid very little. It was during the first day of dialogue with the student nurses at the public hospital burn unit that I realized that while the struggle to survive is tough for the Guyanese, they have perseverance and an attitude that is inspirational. Never have I met such positive, genuine, happy, and extremely hospitable group of people. The student nurses do more work than an RN in the United States would ever do because there are no nurses' aids assigned to them. They are incredibly intelligent and resourceful.”
“Before I left for this trip people would ask me, “Why are you going to another country to help them? There are people in this country who need help.” I would reply that I just felt people in developing countries would appreciate our help more than the many Americans who seem to have a sense of entitlement. However, I have been forced to open my mind and reevaluate my thinking. The characteristic that I saw as a flaw in our American culture seems to be more of a universal concept than I previously thought. I can no longer refer to it as “taking advantage,” but once heard it called a “survival skill,” and I think this phrase captures the phenomenon well. Whether in Guyana or the United States, people who live day in and day out without life’s necessities will do what they must to survive. If that means selling medications so they can feed their families or swindling the soup kitchen for an extra plate of food then they do it because not doing it may have serious repercussions in the end. These realizations have helped broaden my views of humanity and will continue to influence my decisions and increase my compassion as I move forward in future endeavors. From this trip I will be able to incorporate a more empathic and accepting nature into future projects and my nursing career because I have an even deeper understanding of the way people’s life experiences shape their decisions.”
|
Community
based independent projects
