2/1/05 Contact: Katie Wilder, 334/844-9999 (wildeka@auburn.edu)
David M. Granger, 334/844-9999 (grangdm@auburn.edu)

AU PROVIDES NURSING CLINIC FOR HOUSING AUTHORITY RESIDENTS

AUBURN – Auburn University nursing students are making an impact beyond campus through their school’s nursing care clinic.

Started in 1998, the clinic was formed by AU’s School of Nursing and the City of Auburn’s Housing Authority to provide residents health services and medical screenings, including blood pressure tests and blood sugar and cholesterol checks. As part of their rotations, AU nursing students visit one of four sites in the city each week to perform the tests. The services are free but various grants help pay for supplies.

The clinic enables students to apply their nursing skills outside a hospital setting. Also, students become comfortable working with people from various socio-economic backgrounds, said Barbara Wilder, director of the project. She said the clinical experience is often the first exposure some students have to low-income families.

“The students usually go expecting one thing and come away with something totally different,” Wilder said.

Students keep a journal of their work with the clinic during the semester. Wilder said it is touching to read how many students’ attitudes change during the semester.

“At the beginning they aren’t looking forward to it, but by the end they really enjoy it,” she said. “They learn that the person is just like them but with these different circumstances, and they have to figure out how to help.”

Wilder said many times the students have to modify what they have learned in the classroom to suit their clinic clients.

“They have to look at each individual’s situation and find a solution that is best for that person.” For example, Wilder recalled that a student once planned some low-cholesterol, low-sugar meals for a resident. However, the student failed to account for the resident’s fixed income and, as a result, many of the meals were too expensive. The student responded by restructuring the meals to fit the client’s needs.

In addition to the health screenings, students organize an annual health fair and conduct educational projects for the residents every spring. The projects cover a variety of health topics such as teaching residents how to perform a breast self-exam or how to quit smoking.

As a result, Wilder said, some participating residents have started living healthier lifestyles. “We had several women that came to the Boykin site to start an exercise group,” she said. “They began to understand that exercise is going to help them and it doesn’t cost them anything.”

Linda Byrd, a registered nurse, is the program’s clinical outreach instructor and works with the students at each site. She said the clinics enable the students to gain valuable experience and gain skills beyond those they learn in the classroom.

“The students really get their eyes opened,” Byrd said. “And we can see the transition in them. They learn that nursing is more than having a set of skills; it is learning to work with people.”

Auburn University is a pre-eminent land-grant and comprehensive research institution with nearly 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff. Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn is Alabama’s largest educational institution, offering more than 230 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs.

(Contributed by Katie Wilder)

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feb05:AU-nursingoutreach