The Story of Engagement Continues

NR715B_WitheJa_service learning _wk8_Blog

June 24, 2011

Reflection of Service Learning

     My service learning experience is with the same agency as last semester.  I am working with a nursing home Holbrook on the Hill.  This agency is a private small nursing home in a small town in rural West Virginia.  This facility is home to many patients that do not have any place to go.  A large portion of this population is funded by Medicaid.  And most of this population lived in or near poverty most of their lives.  Last semester I worked with the Director of Nursing giving information about simulation and how it could be helpful in providing competency training and testing for her aides and nurses.  We hope to have the first simulation experience late this summer.  The process is being planned throughout the summer.

     Currently they need assistance with in-service training for their faculty.   I will be doing several in-service training sessions on topics of their choosing for their nurses and aides throughout the summer. 

     This facility is an underserved organization with a vulnerable population.  This agency has had difficulty in the past with accreditation visits.  In training staff and in-service presentations I will be helping with QI, and helping staff hopefully gain so insights about patients’ behavior and how to best handle patients in various situations.  I hope that the staff will grow through these interactions.

     In this situation my DNP role is as an educator and facilitator, helping to promote health and wellness for this underserved population of nurses and aides.  They will be encouraged to think about their patients differently through our interactions in this in-service process.  My first in-service will address how to promote nutrition with patients with dementia.  Many of the patients in this facility have dementia and many are poorly nourished.  I hope to help the staff see these patients through new eyes not to see them as “difficult patients”.  Education always has the potential to open doors for people.  A new or greater understanding of their patients’ illness and behaviors will hopefully facilitate better and kinder patient care.

I wish everyone best wishes on their service experiences this semester. 

Janet W