Nursing students learn, provide care through community immersion experience

By Melva RobertsonJune 6, 2014

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Melva Robertson

At about 2pm, we headed in two small cars to the community health center. Manhattan, and not in NYC, was a completely different world. The roads were not paved and were rocky and filled with potholes.

Dominican Republic: "At about 2pm, we headed in two small cars to the community health center. Manhattan, and not in NYC, was a completely different world. The roads were not paved and were rocky and filled with potholes."

The community health center there serves about 600 people in the area and helps with the management of chronic illnesses and general health concerns and directing them to the hospital or clinic.

Dominican Republic: "The community health center there serves about 600 people in the area and helps with the management of chronic illnesses and general health concerns and directing them to the hospital or clinic."

Since there are 10 of us and each clinic is small, we are scattered throughout the southern and central part of the island at four locations.

Eleuthera: "Since there are 10 of us and each clinic is small, we are scattered throughout the southern and central part of the island at four locations."

Unfortunately, despite being home to thousands of coal mines, the state of West Virginia sees very little of the profit from the mines and has been consistently ranked as the 2nd poorest state in the U.S.

West Virginia: "Unfortunately, despite being home to thousands of coal mines, the state of West Virginia sees very little of the profit from the mines and has been consistently ranked as the 2nd poorest state in the U.S."

West Virginia: "Our spacious house resides in the woods of West Virginia with a beautiful view of the New River Bridge down the street."

West Virginia: "In order to learn more about the history of coal mining in the state, we visited the Whipple Company Store for a tour."

This summer, students of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing's accelerated bachelor of science in nursing (ABSN) program embarked on a two-week immersion experience at four sites around the world—the Virgin Islands, West Virginia, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.

From May 30 to June 15, ABSN students are working with local health care providers and community partners to provide health care, community assessments, program evaluations and a sustainability project in each location. The ABSN immersion experience gives nursing students the opportunity to hone their clinical skills while providing care to underserved populations.

Students are blogging about their experiences abroad at www.emorynursingnow.com. The slide show above includes quotes from student bloggers.

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