Enhancing community health nursing education through participation in the university-assisted, community school model

Nursing faculty participating in academic-community partnerships can improve the visibility and power of their programs on campus and in the community. Through participation with faculty in these partnerships, community health nursing students gain a deeper understanding of vulnerable communities and how working on a systems level can improve health and economic indices in a community. Nursing students also gain valuable experience in policy development/program planning, communication skills, cultural competency and community dimensions of practice as they engage in these partnerships. The local replication of a national model focused on improving the educational outcomes of urban school children will be discussed. The collaboration of nursing, sociology and education faculty to replicate a national model in a poor, urban school district will be presented. Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) is the foundation of university-assisted community schools. In this model academic courses advance beyond traditional service learning to support community improvement, including effective public schools, neighborhood economic development, and strong community organizations. The Netter model in Philadelphia is an ABCS collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania and several schools in West Philadelphia. This model is currently being replicated by a state college and an urban school district in southern New Jersey. An urban, culturally diverse school district is an ideal setting for student nurses to learn to function holistically in the community. Adapting the clinical practicum of an undergraduate nursing course to incorporate the goals of the model improved the experience for the students. The interdisciplinary planning, implementation and evaluation of this yearlong endeavor will be described. Future projects and plans for sustainability of the model will be presented.