Building public health nursing skills and a commitment to social justice through student-led philanthropy and service-learning

Background: Service-learning provides an added dimension to traditional clinical experiences for students in public health (PH) nursing courses by engaging students and community in collaboration and mutual/shared learning. Faculty also benefit by the opportunity to apply the scholarship of engagement to service-learning activities. Description: This poster will present an innovative academic-community partnership integrating student-led philanthropy in service-learning clinical experiences are provided across three successive offerings (winter, spring, autumn) of an undergraduate PH nursing course. Through experiential learning and student-led philanthropy, students conduct community needs assessments with underserved vulnerable populations in an urban Ohio county, prioritize identified PH needs, develop and issue a competitive RFP to non-profit organizations to address a priority need, evaluate proposal submissions, award funds, and collaborate with funded organizations to administer and evaluate the program. This project integrates PH nursing skills and social justice through assessment, advocacy, critical thinking, decision-making, program management, evaluation, collaboration, and leadership for approximately 150 students across the three courses. Lessons learned: Project process and outcomes are evaluated with data from students, faculty, community agencies, and program recipients using surveys, journaling, and video analysis of student service-learning activities. Student perceptions of personal and professional growth along with understanding of the professional PH nursing commitment to social justice are key expectations of this service-learning project. Recommendations: Evaluation findings will contribute to nursing education and practice and will inform future opportunities that build on the experiences of this model to instill a commitment to social justice through student philanthropy and service-learning.