Running Head: SITTER AND BARFOOT VETERANS CARE CENTER SERVICE LEARNING 1

Sitter and Barfoot Veterans Care Center Service Learning

Savannah Turnage

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

NUR 3113

September 8, 2016

Honor Code “I pledge..”

SITTER AND BARFOOT VETERANS CARE CENTER SERVICE LEARNING 2

Sitter and Barfoot Veterans Care Center Service Learning

Serving my community has always been apart of my life. When I found out that my

group was chosen to go to the Sitter and Barfoot Veterans Care Center, I was ecstatic. I have

worked in many food pantries and with underprivileged children, but I haven’t had an

opportunity to work with our veterans. Veterans hold a special place in my heart, because my

grandfather is a Marine. This is something he is very proud of and he sacrificed a lot to serve our

country. Our veterans gave their lives to protect us, so I am excited to learn from them and help

them on this project.

Self-Assessment

My hopes for this service-learning project are to make the most of it and truly help our

veterans. I expect that I will actually enjoy my time with them and hopefully even want to come

back and volunteer more hours. When most people think of veterans, they think of a bunch of old

disabled people. This is a very common stereotype and is honestly one of the first things that

comes to my mind too. However, I know that not all veterans are old and not all veterans are

disabled. I believe that I need more information about what activities the care center actually

does with the veterans. I could find this information on their web page or call the care center.

Servant Leadership and Professionalism

In the article Servant Leadership, servant-leadership is defined by “encompassing a

powerful skill set that it particularly effective in implementing a team approach to the delivery of

nursing practice” (Neill & Saunders, 2008, p.395). The principles of servant leadership are also a

huge part of what servant leadership is all about. Without using empathy, healing, awareness,

persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and

building a community, then servant leadership has not been performed. I believe the concept of
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servant-leadership is not only nurses working together as a team in order to achieve their goals,

but also to keep their morals and ethics intact while doing so. I can apply this to my service

learning, because my group and I will need to work as a team to be able to provide the best help

we can to our veterans. While volunteering we must also keep true to our morals and ethics, so

that we may be effective and helpful with our time at the care center.

Professionalism is placing the best interests of patients at the center of everything you do

(Barnhoorn & Youngson, 2014, p.395). The concept of professionalism to me means that while

caring for patients and being at hospitals, it is important for nurses to carry themselves a certain

way that would allow their patients be confident in them. Nursing is now considered a highly

respected job, which I believe is due to our acts of professionalism and we need this in order for

our patients to fully trust us. I can apply this knowledge to my service learning by acting

professionally while I am at the care center so as to be respectful and accomplish our goals for

the day.

Barriers and Optimal Health Outcomes

There are many barriers in optimal health outcomes that exist for the elderly. Some

barriers that occur for the elderly are: health statues, access to health care, elder abuse,

community safety and fear of violence, mental health and mental wellness challenges, accidents,

and disasters (Anderson & McFarlane, 2008, p.355). These barriers make it difficult for the

elderly to achieve optimal health outcomes.

Learning from This Population and Empowerment

I expect that I could learn from working with this population what their hardships are or

what they go through on a normal day. I do believe that it will be easy to empower the veterans

that we serve to be our teachers simply because they are already so wise and have been in
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situations that, thankfully, I will never have to be in. I believe that they will be eager to teach us

as long as we are respectful and truly listen to what they have to say.

Conclusion

After conducting a little bit of research, I now realize how the elderly are considered a

vulnerable population. This knowledge will help me in better understanding what they are going

through and will let me have a better idea of what I could do to better this community.
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References

Anderson, E. T., & McFarlane, J. M. (2008). Community as partner: Theory and practice in

nursing (6th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Barnhoorn, P. C., & Youngson, C. (2014). Refining a Definition of Medical Professionalism.

Academic Medicine, 89(12), 1579. doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000000527

Neill, M. W., & Saunders, N. S. (2008). Servant Leadership. JONA: The Journal of Nursing

Administration, 38(9), 395-400. doi:10.1097/01.nna.0000323958.52415.cf

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PRE-ACTIVITY ASSIGNMENT

Students are expected to thoroughly complete these questions and turn them in at the beginning
of class as directed by the instructor prior to the service-learning activity in APA VI style,
presented professionally, written in a scholarly tone, and include cover page and reference list.
Answer each question as thoroughly, completely and as concise as possible in order to receive
the full points. Grading will be based on quality and not quantity.

Points Points
Possible Earned
1. The first step of becoming culturally competent is to perform an
honest self-assessment. Answer the following questions as honestly
as possible:
a. What are your hopes and expectations for this service-
learning activity? 5

b. What stereotypes/ myths/ biases do you have about the

vulnerable population with which you will be working? 5

c. What information do you need about this population in

order to best address their needs? How can you seek out 5
this information?

2. Concepts of Servant Leadership and Professionalism:

a. What does the concept of Servant Leadership mean to you,

incorporate essential facts learned in your course work? 7
How can you apply and integrate this knowledge into your
service-learning experience?
b. What does the concept of Professionalism mean to you, 6
incorporate essential facts learned in your course work?
How can you apply and integrate this knowledge into your
service-learning experience?
c. Citation and Reference 2

3. What barriers exist for this population with regards to optimal

health outcomes? 8

Citation and Reference 2

4. What do you expect that you can learn from working with this
population? Do you think that you can empower those that you 5
serve to be your teachers? If so, how? If not, why not?
5. APA VI 5
Total Points 50