Running head: SERVICE LEARNING

Service Learning

Jennifer Housel

NURS 320

Ferris State University

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Abstract

This paper is going to explain the role of service learning in professional education and address

the importance of volunteer work. I will be working at the office of an obstetrician and

gynecologist. In this paper, I will address what is expected as a volunteer, the potential

outcomes from this experience, and how I am involved in the community. This paper will also

explain how service learning will give me valuable experience towards my career as a labor and

delivery nurse.

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Service Learning

During the first semester of the RN to BSN Program at Ferris State University students

are given the assignment to find a community agency to become involved with in a service

learning program. “Service learning is an education strategy that develops students academic

learning, interpersonal skills, and sense of responsibility while enabling them to make

meaningful contributions to the community” (Warino, 2013). The contents of this paper describe

the proposed volunteer activity, the agency being served, and the role and activities of the

volunteer at the agency. In addition, program objectives and learning evaluation are explained in

detail.

There are many opportunities to become involved in the community with service

learning. Some opportunities include volunteer work as a group, while other opportunities are

for the individual. Service learning is beneficial to everyone involved, and plays an important

role in the student’s professional development.

Agency Description

I have decided to complete my twenty hours of service learning with the office of Lapeer

Obstetrics and Gynecology. The office offers prenatal care for expectant parents, postpartum

checkups, family planning, routine well-woman exams, and treatment for disorders of the female

reproductive system. I currently work in a similar work environment, in the labor and delivery

department, at a small hospital in Lapeer. The birth center only has two obstetricians at this

time. One of the physicians, Dr. Lisa M. Allen, has agreed to let me complete my volunteer

hours at her office in Lapeer.

Dr. Allen had the biggest smile on her face when I initially asked her about volunteering

at her office. One of the department clerks that I work with is also employed part-time at Dr.

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Allen’s office. The clerk, Carri Ormiston, had told me about the mass amount of patients that

Dr. Allen cares for each week in her office, in addition to being “on-call” fifty-percent of the

nights and weekends at the birthing center. It was Carri who helped me gain the courage needed

to approach Dr. Allen with the proposal of me completing my service learning in her office. I

am grateful that Dr. Allen is allowing me to volunteer with at her office. This service learning

project is a win-win situation. I will learn valuable skills that I will use in the future to help

patients, and Dr. Allen will receive some much needed help. The true benefit to the community

is that that Dr. Allen’s patients will get a bit more attention.

Dr. Allen is an obstetrician and gynecologist, commonly abbreviated as OB/GYN. In

addition to delivering babies, she also performs operative gynecology procedures at the hospital.

Dr. Allen also provides high-quality health care for women at her office, which is located in the

same town as the hospital. The prenatal and post-partum care provided at the office is extremely

important to the women. Effective prenatal care can prevent poor outcomes. In addition, post-

partum care “can assist women in continuing the health promoting behaviors initiated prenatally

through out their lifespan” (Blackwell, 2002). I expect to do a great deal of patient teaching

during my volunteer time. Working in the office will allow me to serve the Lapeer county

community.

Volunteer Role

I am excited to volunteer in the doctor’s office because of the experience I will gain. Dr.

Allen told me that I would have the opportunity to experience new situations in her office that I

do not usually see at the birth center. For example, currently at work I do not care for pregnant

women less than 20 weeks gestation and only have textbook knowledge of the care that the

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women receive in the office. Caring for newly pregnant women will be a notably great learning

experience for me.

Since I have never been pregnant myself, I have a very limited idea of the initial pre-natal

care that is routine. In other words, I only have textbook knowledge on the subject. “Service

learning is more than volunteerism because it connects academic coursework with service to the

community” (Ellen, 2012). I am looking forward to becoming more knowledgeable about

prenatal care since OB is my chosen field of nursing, and I look forward to staying in OB for the

rest of my career as a nurse.

I will be working in the office during regular hours a few times a month or more. Since I

am a registered nurse in labor and delivery, I will need only minimal training. I am required to

wear clean scrubs and a name badge. The experience I gain while working at the office will

benefit me professionally in my current position at the birth center as well as in the future.

Program Objectives

The hours I spend volunteering for the service learning project will help me to achieve

the RN-BSN Program objectives. One of the main objectives of the program is that students will

“demonstrate a level of professionalism that is congruent with the inherent values, ethics and

behaviors of the discipline of nursing” (Ferris State University, 2011). Identifying, planning, and

participating in volunteer activities that contribute to self-development and growth is essential to

further understand and appreciate the profession of nursing. Not only does this service help

students to gain further understanding of course content, it also gives them an enhanced sense of

personal values and civic responsibility.

The extra training that I will receive in the office volunteering will benefit me

professionally. I plan to add this experience to my resume under the section “additional training

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information” since the volunteer work is pertinent to the field of nursing that I plan to continue

my career in. I will continue to grow as a nurse throughout the professional program at Ferris

with the experience I gain from the ongoing service learning project.

Activity Description

I am also looking forward to learning more about happens at follow-up appointments

after a delivery. When I send a patient who is a new mother home from the birth center I always

read discharge instructions to the patient. I often feel disconnected from what I am saying, since

I have not personally experienced a follow-up appointment in an office myself. I stress to my

patients at the birth center how important it is for them to keep their follow-up appointments. I

am looking forward to participating in the follow-up appointments with the post-partum patients

at the office. Furthermore, if I ever decide to continue my education to become a nurse midwife,

this service-learning project will benefit me greatly. The experience may also help me continue

to expand my knowledge in my current field of work. There is only so much that I can learn

from reading textbooks. Actual experience will help me to bring many theories to life by being

able to see and recognize the bigger picture first hand.

I believe that it will be especially nice for the patients to have a familiar face between the

hospital and the office. Often the only time that I meet pregnant mothers ahead of their delivery

date is in triage. Usually, when I meet a patient in triage, they are in the triage unit because of

high-anxiety situations. Therefore, the patients that I meet in triage do not always remember me

by the next time I see them again.

Getting to meet the expectant mothers during routine exams will be a more ideal

encounter to form a trusting relationship in. As well as forming better nurse-patient

relationships, I also hope to learn more about the doctor that I work with in the hospital. I feel

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that I could be a better assistant to Dr. Allen during a delivery if I spend more time around her

and get used to her expectations and non-verbal cues.

Some of the activities that I may be doing in the office include; taking vital signs,

collecting urine for specimens, updating patients’ medical history, drawing blood for lab work

completing appropriate lab related paperwork, giving injections, setting-up cleaning-up exam

rooms for each patient, and talking on the phone with patients who want to “speak with a nurse”

or “leave a message for the doctor”. In all honesty, I am hoping to assist in some “special”

procedures as well, including IUD placement and LEEP procedures.

I believe this will be an “eye-opening” experience to see what the physician spends her

day doing while she is not in the delivery room. When I work with Carri at the hospital, she

often mentions the demands of the clinic. I hope to not only help in meeting these demands, but

also be a useful asset to the clinic.

Evaluation Plan

In NURS 450, Nursing Capstone, I will complete the final assignment for my service-

learning project that will identify the professional insights that have occurred. “Reflection helps

the student think about and analyze their experience in the context of their classroom learning”

(Ellen, 2012). In the “post-service” assignment I will give examples of how my learning

experience has impacted my career process. “Students are required to critically reflect on their

service and learning experience through writing, discussion, journalism, or presentation” (Ellen,

2012).

After my volunteer time is complete I hope to have a better understanding of the prenatal

and postpartum needs of women. Furthermore, I expect this experience to show me how I can

become more involved in my community. I hope that I have a make a positive impact towards

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the community, and that this project inspires me to do more community service in the future. I

would be happy to continue volunteering at Dr. Allen’s office even after I complete the BSN

program. The need for self-reflection after this project will be important to fully analyze the

experience. In 2012, White and O’Sullivan supported the need for self-reflection:

Self-evaluation requires one to know what to evaluate, how to collect that data, how to

analyze and evaluate the data, and what to do with the findings. It requires a level of

objectivity and self-knowledge about performance as compared to expected competencies

and standards. Through learning about the development and maintenance of a

professional portfolio, students are given the tools to document learning and to map their

professional careers. (pp. 189)

Conclusion

Working in the OB/GYN office will allow me to grow professionally and personally.

Throughout my volunteer time at Dr. Allen’s office I will gain insight to the comprehensive care

provided by the physician. This includes reproductive health care, prenatal care, and well-women

care. Once I have completed my service learning experience, I hope to be more confident with

my abilities in my current work position. I am looking forward to learning and using the new

skills that I gain from this experience.

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Contact Information

Agency: Lapeer Obstetrics and Gynecology

Contact Person: Lisa M. Allen D.O.

Contact Phone: 810-245-8620

Contact E-mail: lisa.allen@mclaren.org

Contact Address: 944 Baldwin Road Suite G Lapeer, Michigan 48446

(See Appendix A)

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References

Blackwell, D. (2002). Prenatal care services in the public and private arena. Journal Of The

American Academy Of Nurse Practioners, 14(12), 562-567. doi:10.111/j.1745-

7599.2002.tb00090.x

Ellen, M. (2012). Linking classroom learning to the community through service learning.

Journal of Community Health Nursing, 29(1), 53-60.

doi:10.1080/07370016.2012.645746

Ferris State University. (2011). BSN Program Outcomes. Retrieved from

http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/colleges/alliedhe/Nursing/BSN-program-outcomes.htm

Warino, S. (2013). Promoting professional growth through service learning. Radiation Therapist,

22(1), 115-118. Retrieved from CINAHL Plus with Full Text.

White, K. M., & O’Sullivan, A. (2012). The essential guide to nursing practice. Silver Spring,

MD: American Nurses Association.

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Appendix A

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