As part of an intensive rural health nursing practicum, five graduate students from upstate New York conducted a community assessment in a rural West Virginia county. In this session, the nurses will describe their experiences as well as articulate issues and challenges they encountered. Areas addressed will include: visiting the remote location and working closely with a preceptor on-site; conducting the community assessment through interaction with the professional sector, community leaders, and local citizens; obtaining data from the Internet and communicating information gathered via e-mail to a graduate student at the home campus location; collecting, sorting, and compiling data into a Community Oriented Health Record; and identifying strengths and areas of concern that influenced the health and well-being of the community system. In addition, the nurses will demonstrate their application of the Anderson & McFarlane Community Assessment Wheel Model by presenting an overview of their findings and providing specific examples from the rural community assessment. The importance of using the community assessment model as the basis for identifying the strengths and needs of a rural community will also be discussed. Finally, the nurses will relate their evaluation of the project as an experiential educational tool for graduate students to learn how to analyze the health status of rural communities, to develop community assessment skills, and to gain perspective on rural health issues to enhance clinical practice.
Learning Objectives: LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will: 1. Describe the experiences, rewards, and challenges facing graduate nursing students participating in a rural health nursing practicum. 2. Explain the process and importance of using a community assessment model to identify the strengths and needs of a rural community. 3. Relate the utility of experiential education as part of a rural health graduate nursing practicum in learning how to analyze the health status of rural communities, in developing community assessment skills, and in gaining perspective on rural health issues to enhance clinical practice
Keywords: Education, Rural Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.