The Bahamas
*Please note site locations can vary by year based on safety and security, and faculty leaders*
Date: Spring Break - March 2019
Program Contact: Caroline Coburn, ccoburn@emory.edu
Eligibility: BSN Seniors and AMSN Students
Program Description: The group traveling to the Bahamas collaborates with local clinics and schools to provide healthcare and education. Because of Emory’s long relationship with our partners in the Bahamas, we also have the opportunity to participate in a variety of local activities. Students in the clinics will work with the local nurses and physicians to provide direct care. In the schools, students create educational presentations under the guidance of local teachers, and often have found creative and rewarding ways to address health education needs for primary, middle, and high school-age students. During the week, each student will have both clinic and school experience, and will gain insight into the challenges of healthcare delivery in an underserved region.
Indian Health Services
Dates: Spring Break - March 2019
Eligibility: BSN Seniors and AMSN students.
Program Contact: Helen Baker, helen.baker@emory.edu
Program Description: During this trip students will gain in-depth understanding of evidence-based prevention, screening, harm reduction, and treatment for individuals with substance use disorders in rural and urban areas in the U.S., with a focus on Native American health. The students will volunteer with nurses, physicians, pharmacists, social workers, councilors, and allied professionals at the Chapa-De Indian Health Services in Auburn, California. They will also learn about harm reduction services in Sacramento. Activities will include observation of screening, harm reduction, and treatment for individuals with substance abuse disorders, developing a lesson plan and working with Chapa-De to lead a weekly stabilization group, and conversations with individuals with substance use disorders. There are also other potential opportunities for activities and projects depending on interest and need of the students and the organizations.
Kingston, Jamaica
Dates: Spring Break – March 2019
Eligibility: BSN Seniors and AMSN Students
Program Contact: Jeannie Rodriguez, jeannie.rodriguez@emory.edu
Program Description: The group traveling to Kingston, Jamaica will be working in six residential centers directed by the Missionaries of the Poor (a Catholic order), caring for more than 400 people. The program provides basic and tertiary care to children with perinatal birth injury and related co-morbidities (such as seizures and Cerebral Palsy) as well as children with severe chromosomal deformities and significant intellectual disabilities. Nursing students will provide care to the homeless, HIV positive adults and mentally and physically ill people. Wound care and assistance with activities of daily living are also embedded in the work done with both children and adults. This experience enhances student knowledge about working in faith-based environments; and fosters enhanced interest in global health service. Additionally, NHWSN faculty members provide technical assistance that strengthens the community-based organization’s health-related services, and its relationship with the Jamaican Ministry of Health. The group will also tour the Kingston Public Hospital and the Victoria Jubilee Hospital, a maternity hospital.
Santo, Haiti
Dates: Spring Break - March 2019
Eligibility: BSN Seniors and AMSN Students
Program Contact: Patricia Moreland, patricia.jean.moreland@emory.edu
Program Description: The group will travel directly to Santo, Haiti where students will work directly under the supervision of the faculty and on site physicians in the community on various health projects. This experience is fostered through a partnership with Foundation for Peace. Foundation for Peace is a well-established organization that supports schools, water purification facilities, churches and medical clinics within the Haitian rural communities.
Grady
Dates: Winter and Spring Break – January 2019/March 2019
Eligibility: BSN Seniors and AMSN Students
Program contact: Lauren Kasper, lauren.e.kasper@emory.edu
Program Description: Grady immersion will strengthen students’ clinical skills while also developing an understanding of healthcare disparities, even within large metropolitan areas. The students will work primarily with undocumented and/or uninsured ESRD patients receiving dialysis treatments through the Grady emergency department. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to volunteer with other Atlanta non-profit organizations serving low-resource patients.
A typical mission day includes community outreach, relationship building, and health education to 600 to 1,000 patients a day, usually in rural communities.