Hola!

MSD: This morning I am sitting here surrounded by the smell of fried bread and bananas! mmm... We will open the doors to the clinic in an hour.
Every morning we begin our day with groups of families (mostly women and their children) sitting outside the clinic doors.
After organizing our med room and deciding which faculty we will work with, the busy morning begins.
With the help of Mrs. O, Mrs. Ritchie, and my mother, I have assessed patients anywhere from 16months to 68years old. I have been challenged to gather complete histories that are sometimes difficult to obtain. However, with the great support of intelligent nursing minds, including every student, I believe I have grown in my confidence. These are experiences I never could have had if I hadn't had this opportunity.
As a BSN student, I feel I have learned the difficulties and responsibilities an APN must deal with every day. I have a new found respect for their role.
I have also learned how to link symptoms and social histories together in order to discover a diagnosis. Communicating with the others in the clinic has added to my knowledge-adding perspectives that i might have missedwhen discussing treatments.
I feel I have grown in confidence and knowledge as a nursing student. Thank you everyone at UAMS for supporting this once-in-a-lifetime experience for us.


Dona: Just wanted to share about our journey into the community yesterday. After our morning in the Good Samaritan Clinic, our students boarded the ministry's bus (literally a school bus) and traveled to a nearby community called Tea Kettle where there is special need for outreach and resources. The students hopped off the bus at intervals and walked down the hot, dusty dirt road handing out bags of rice and beans that they had purchased and sacked earlier that morning. This was a moving experience for them; seeing many large families living in small makeshift homes of cement and tin, grateful for the food and attention. The students expressed mixed emotion at the beauty of the landscape (lush greenery, palm trees, vibrantly colored hibiscus and bird of paradise growing wild in the hillsides) and the beauty of the children's smiles and the poverty of their living situation.
This led into our post conference last night as we discussed everything from their improving assessment and interview skills to the influence of local culture in the larger context ofpoverty. The students expressed many ideas about possible solutions and the need for hope and the importance of community-wide programs to bring about positive change.

This is one great group of BSN nursing students. They represent UAMS incredibly well. They are the future of nursing and we are in good hands. I am so blessed as an instructor to share this time with them!