Service learning has been integrated into a variety of academic disciplines including nursing programs. At Nebraska Methodist College service learning is viewed as a strategy in which students learn and develop through actively participating in thoughtfully organized and supervised service. Like nine other colleges of nursing across the nation and their community partners, Nebraska Methodist College and Catholic Charities of the Omaha Archdiocese have become involved in the DARING (Diversity, Advocacy, Respect, Innovation, Nursing Education and Growth) to reach the Heartland initiative. The main goal of these partnerships is to improve "community" (Herman, Sassatelli, Schumacher, & Wallace, 2000). Few qualitative studies have been done describing the experiences of nursing students taking part in service learning projects (Melby, 2000 & Simoni, & McKinney, 1998). The purpose of this study is to describe the retrospective experiences of a group of bachelor level nursing students involved in service learning projects. This will be accomplished through the analysis of qualitative data collected over a three-year period. In addition, this study will seek to describe the service learning experiences of faculty and community program directors involved during the same time period. This will be accomplished through the use of focus groups. Nursing education and service learning have a "natural fit." Students, faculty, and the community come together and ascertain what types of experiences would be beneficial to all who are involved (Clark-Callister & Hobbins-Garbett, 2000). Because it is an area of focus at Nebraska Methodist College, it's important to compare the real life service learning experiences of students to what is being reported in the literature. Service learning has become a huge concept, reaching out to entire communities, the insights and knowledge gained as a result of this study have the potential to impact not only nurses and nurse educators but anyone service learning touches.
Back to Rising Stars of Scholarship and Research
Back to 37th Biennial Convention - Scientific Session
Sigma Theta Tau International