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Tuesday, 1 November 2011: 8:50 AM
Learning Objective 1: Discuss the implications for service learning courses within nursing education curriculums.
Learning Objective 2: Understand the amazing experiences of a service learning course effects to student nurse practice perceptions.
Purpose: Many professional organizations support experiences promoting cultural expertise through formal educational experiences. The National League for Nursing present one excellence initiative as “The curriculum provides experiential cultural learning activities enhancing students’ abilities to think critically, reflect thoughtfully, and provide culturally-sensitive, evidence-based nursing care to diverse populations” (2010). The Sigma Theta Tau International Society states “The vision is to create a global community of nurses who lead in using knowledge, scholarship, service and learning to improve the health of the world’s people” (2010). Methods: Service-learning, considered a valuable academic pedagogy in a wide range of disciplines, is relatively new to nursing education. Nursing students benefit from participating in service learning experiences with diverse and underserved populations, where they can observe firsthand the health care issues facing those who live in poverty (Hunt, 2007). A recent trip to rural Honduras where 44% of the people live on less than $2.00/day and the majority of the children come from single parent abusive homes served as the source for an eye opening experience for a group of graduate nursing students enrolled in a recent global health course. Reflective journaling coupled with photo journaling recorded a wealth of moving experiences for these students. Results: The implications to competent leadership is realized when student nurses are exposed to the paradigm shifting experience a service learning project such as this course can provide. Most people think more deeply about something after they have experienced an affective reaction to it (Eyler & Giles, 1999). The root of altruism and emotional intelligence lies in empathy, or the ability to read emotions in others and develop a sense of another’s need or despair (Goleman, 1995). Conclusion: Service-learning creates an intense, eye-opening experience that is often the first opportunity students have to work with individuals different from themselves (Hunt, 2007).
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