Best Practices: Nursing Students Connecting with Communities
University
Reporter 
Institute
for Community Inclusion, A National Center,
To Move To UMass Boston
Russert
to Speak at Commencement
Fulbright
Scholar Aids
Environmental Management in China
WUMB
Debuts New Station at WNEF 91.7
Educator
Inspires Beacon Leadership Students
Technology-Enhanced
Classrooms Open for Spring Semester
Reality
Check Conference Examines Gap Between Income and Housing Costs
“Happenings
@ UMB” Column New to University Home Page
Center
for Social Policy Researchers Recognized for Work on Issues of Homelessness
in America
Celebrating
Black History Month: How Academics and Athletics Led to Success
Best
Practices: Nursing Students Connecting with Communities
Annual
“Teaching for Transformation” Conference Held at University
Revealing
and Celebrating a Great Poet
PeopleSoft:
Where in the World is Becky Hsu?
By Linda Dumas
The concept of best practices is introduced early in the nursing program, and as the student moves closer to the professional nurse role, discovering the relationship between the concept and clinical evidence of its value becomes the norm. In the community, the evidence is outcomes for students and the clients they work with.
The Community Nursing course is taken in the senior year and is required for all nursing students. It is the capstone undergraduate course, and a substantive community project that targets underserved populations in the community is a requirement. The course focuses on urban issues and seeks to expose students to problems in the health care system. It examines inequities in access, problems with cost and the uninsured, inequities in illness, and disparities in utilization. Lectures focus on basic concepts of community as common ground and the importance of neighborhood and home
Cultural and racial diversity, the meaning of class, and issues around poverty are introduced early on and integrated throughout the course. Discussion topics include the epidemiology of AIDS/HIV, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, home care, the epidemiology of violence, school nursing, and long term care in the community and hospice. Each student spends two days a week for the semester in a clinical setting. Students choose the place that most interests them, and their selections represent the many dimensions of urban nursing. These locations include the Pine Street Inn; schools in South Boston, Dorchester, and Cambridge; and home care facilities including the Norwell Visiting Nurse Association and Affiliated Visiting Nurse Association.
The Elders Living at Home program became a part of the community nursing course in the mid l990s. Professors Kate Byrne and Carol Ellenbecker developed a model for student nurse clinics in public housing in Boston’s South End. Clinics are open to residents for support, blood pressure, glucose checks, medication teaching, skin care, and safety in the home.
Last fall, students in Dorchester and Malden collaborated with the Boston Coalition for Adult Immunizations and provided influenza vaccines to the elderly in Boston communities. Over 200 community members were immunized by the students.
In community nursing everyone wins. The students learn about ways of life other than their own; they learn to suspend judgment; they learn to value diversity; and they learn how important the community is as a setting for improving the quality of its member’s lives. The connections are invaluable for all, and for many students they are lasting experiences that influence best practice over an entire nursing career. Dumas is an associate professor of nursing and the chair of the Department of Community and Family Nursing. This column is a part of a continuing monthly series featuring best practices at UMass Boston.
Interested in highlighting your best practices? Submit your ideas to news@umb.edu.