Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

NUR 4144: Professional Role Development Servant Leadership

Summative Service-Learning Reflection
Grading Rubric
Student Name: Dahlia Rose___
Instructions: Reflect upon your personal experience with service-learning activities across your
nursing program, using the following key components. This is a reflection of how servicelearning has shaped your values.
Papers should be between 1000-1500 words.
Points
Points
Possible Earned
1. Noticing & Interpreting:
30
What expectations did you have of service-learning from the
beginning of your nursing program? Were these
expectations met or not met (with explanation)?
What strengths and problems did you, personally, see in the
community? What assets/solutions to problems did you see?
How did your values and experiences as part of a certain
cultural, racial, ethnic, religious group, socioeconomic status
group, or exposure to media or other sources of information
concerning needy communities shape what you saw and
heard throughout your nursing program?
2. Responding:
20
What have you learned about the needs of the surrounding
community?
Have you found the service-learning activities to be truly
relevant to the community and your learning experiences?
3. Reflecting on service-learning:
30
Has your service-learning experiences influenced your
perception of your call to serve?
Has your concept of service-learning changed since you
began your career as a nursing student?
Briefly describe how your past experiences of servicelearning in your nursing courses (NUR 1100, NUR 3113,
and NUR 3114, NUR 4144) helped prepare you for servicelearning.
4. Reflecting on civic engagement:
20
What is civic engagement? (cite any ideas that are not your
own)
How do you plan to stay engaged with the local community
when you graduate?
Total Personal Summative Reflection Points:
100

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Noticing & Interpreting

Initially coming into nursing school, I did not realize how many opportunities we would
have as students to serve the community. I had the opportunity to see all aspects of the
community which was very rewarding and very humbling. I went to Ephesus Junior Academy on
two separate occasions. The Academy is a Christian school and represents grades K-8. The
school is comprised of many underprivileged children within its respective community. The first
time I helped at a health fair which provided educational opportunities for the children and their
families regarding things such as obesity and how to choose healthier food options. The second
time we assisted with health screenings to include height, weight, vision and hearing.
Additionally, as a class we composed several educational brochures on specific topics such as
exercise and developmental considerations were also made. I also had the chance to visit several
centers within the community for individuals with mental health disorders and see how they
provide opportunities for them to learn the skills they need along with counseling and therapeutic
activities to help them be reincorporated back into the community. Additionally, I had the
opportunity to visit Sitter & Barfoot which is a skilled nursing care center for veterans located on
the campus of the McGuire Veteran Hospital in Richmond. Many of the populations that these
facilities or organizations serve represent communities that are marginalized within society. Low
income children and families, veterans and people with mental illnesses represent a large portion
of those marginalized. There could always be more awareness for the needs of these
communities and more resources available to them. It is great to see however, that the Richmond
community is making strides to help these communities attain the resources necessary to help
them lead healthier, functional lives.

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Responding
Bon Secours represents bringing good help to those in need. This was evident in the
communities that I had the opportunity to serve in. Many of the communities do not have access
to healthy food options such as fresh produce mainly because of a lack of financial resources.
Through my experiences it was evident that Richmond has many resources available for them.
For example, the Community Kitchen and its garden at Lewis Ginter, FeedMore and Meals on
Wheals Organizations which provide nutritious meals to vulnerable children, seniors and
homebound individuals across Central VA. Diabetes, Obesity and Heart Disease are the three
leading morbidities for the Central VA region, which makes organizations such as these
imperative to the health of the community it serves. Mental illness is a disease just like any other
disease and yet it does not garner as much attention because of the stigma that it poses.
Therefore, people with mental illnesses have a hard time adjusting in the community when there
is a lack of support or resources available to them. Lakeside Center is a day center for people
with mental illnesses that provides therapeutic activities, counseling and work tasks that will help
them gain the skills they need to be able to reenter the society. Additionally, Veterans also suffer
from not only mental illnesses, such as post traumatic stress disorder, but many are also
socioeconomically disadvantaged and have many health needs as well. Therefore, it is also
important that there are resources available to them such as at the Sitter and Barfoot Center
which not only has medical staff on site to meet their needs but they have shelter, food, and
numerous recreational and diversional activities available to them as well. I definitely found
relevance in each of the service learning activities that I actively participated in and would
certainly advocate for each and every one of them.

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Reflection on service learning

I would strongly agree that each and every service learning experience that I have had
thus far has further strengthened my will and call to serve. The service learning experience
helped expose me to the varying communities and populations in the greater Richmond area and
the resources that are available to them. I would not say that my concept on the topic of service
learning has changed, it has just been expanded and strengthened. In preparation for my most
recent service learning opportunity, previous courses helped me become more aware and more
observant of the population that I am serving and how the community responds and interacts
with them. My group and I almost went to Ephesus Academy again but since I had been there on
numerous occasions before, we wanted to try experiencing another aspect of the community that
we had not yet seen. We had heard about the FeedMore and Community Kitchen organizations in
passing and so we looked into volunteering at the Lewis Ginter Community Kitchens garden,
which is what we did. I am thankful we made that decision, as I found it to be a very humbling
and rewarding experience and a great way to wrap up our service learning experiences with Bon
Secours Memorial College of Nursing.

Reflecting on civic engagement

According to the New York Times: Civic engagement means working to make a
difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge,
skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a
community, through both political and non-political processes. Based on all my service learning
experiences thus far, I would say this definition accurately sums up the purpose of the
organizations and facilities that I had the opportunity to serve in. I feel that I helped to make a

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difference in each and every one of the communities that I served and I look forward to continue
to be involved in my community even after graduation. Not only will I utilize the information I
have gained as resources for my patients but I will also try to devote my time to actively
participate within the community as well. I hope to be apart of mission trips such as to Haiti or
Remote Area Medical. I also would be glad to help volunteer my time again at the Community
Kitchen Garden and some of the other centers that I have previously visited. Wherever there is a
need, I hope I can be a positive influence not only to my patients but the greater Richmond
community as well.

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References

The definition of civic engagement-New York Times. (2006). Retrieved from

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/college/collegespecial2/coll_aascu_defi.html

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