Henry and fellow bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) student Jennifer Knight were faced with completing the new school graduation requirement - the Senior Innovative Project. They approached the Georgia Nurses Foundation (GNF), which operates a clinic at the Moreland Avenue Women's and Children's Shelter, with a plan for beginning a new reading and play program at the shelter. Their appeal was rewarded with a contribution of $4,000 from the GNF for the purchase of new children's books.
Now each Sunday afternoon the two students, along with a growing list of volunteers, read stories, conduct literature-based activities and distribute free books to children staying at the shelter. The program has been such a success that Henry intends to expand it and continue it on a permanent basis, eventually seeking additional funding and beginning programs at other shelters.
It was easy for Henry to make a connection between her Senior Innovative Project and her nursing career.
"The kind of positive experiences gained through programs like this have a direct connection to children's health," she pointed out. "Research has shown that the ability to cope positively with situations as a child correlates later on to positive health-seeking behaviors. We want to plan programs to help increase the children's self-esteem and reward them for positive behavior."
About 20 children attend the reading and play program each week. Henry's vision is to develop it into a full-service program for all age groups and their different needs.
"I wanted to start out small so people would get excited, then add something every year," she said.
Henry and Knight are not the only students whose project relates directly to career interests. When nursing senior Elizabeth Pollock was a VISTA volunteer several years ago, she worked with Vietnamese refugees in Atlanta. Her interest in oncology led her to realize that most of the women in that group had no access to information about breast cancer. All the programs and literature about breast cancer offered by the American Cancer Society and other agencies were in English. For their Senior Innovative Project, Pollock and senior Amy Tino developed a program to teach breast health and self-exam classes to Vietnamese women, with the help of translators.
"In the Atlanta area," Pollock pointed out, "all the Vietnamese doctors are male, and they don't bring up breast exams unless a woman specifically asks for it. Part of our project includes contacting local physicians and encouraging them to discuss breast exams with their patients. We also are encouraging women to ask for clinical breast exams." Pollock hopes to find a job that will allow her to travel throughout Georgia teaching programs to refugees about breast self-examination.
The Senior Innovative Projects were the creation of Dean Dyanne D. Affonso, who believes strongly that the school's mission should include community partnerships through innovative health promotion activities. Nationally, she explained, academic nursing is at the forefront of designing innovative models for health care delivery.
"I believe that students bring creative, innovative energies to the learning experience," said Affonso. "And this project is an excellent example of the expanded role nurses have in promoting the health of our nation."
In last year's pilot study, 13 seniors completed innovative projects. The program was such a success that this year it became a class requirement. Each senior student must design and implement an innovative care-giving solution to a significant community health problem. The projects must demonstrate critical thinking, clinical decision making, project management, assessment skills and fiscal responsibility. Faculty members have worked together to weave aspects of the projects into senior-year research and theory courses.
All 77 senior nursing students completed Senior Innovative Projects this year. The projects included nutrition for adults and children; medication education for the elderly; safety; shoes for the homeless; interventions for hypertensive individuals; child car seat awareness; and health promotion for teens.
-- Holly Korschun