Service Learning Experience and Reflection

The UMOS population of children is much underserved and most do not receive the preventative or health promotional care they need because they are migrant. This is also challenging because many of the immunization records are missing, incomplete, or the previous state that the family came from may not require the same immunizations as Missouri.  I find this only to be a matter of educating the parent on what is required in Missouri and I did not have any problems.  It is a huge asset to the community and to this organization that the clinic I am part of, offers this free (or reduced price service, depending on insurance status) service once a year.  Being a part of this experience and having the ability to offer my skills and knowledge to help an underserved population is not only internally rewarding, but it makes me more culturally competent as 100% of the children I saw were Hispanic.  I am definitely more self-aware of how the Hispanic and migrant culture functions, and unfortunately how little emphasis is placed on healthcare.  The services that the clinic offers to this population, free of charge, demonstrate the ability to work towards becoming more socially just.  I am so proud to be a part of this continued collaborated effort.

 

The population of children from the Head Start programs are underserved as well, although these children are more likely to receive healthcare services than the UMOS population is because many of these children are Medicaid insured.  The challenge with receiving quality healthcare is financial in nature, transportation, money for medications, co-pays for office visits, and parental time off from work to take the child to the medical appointment.  These barriers are not the fault of the child, and the parent must make tough life choices to ensure that all life aspects are met for the child, even if it means no yearly well child exams.  This is the purpose and commitment that both my clinic and Head Start have made to the children, to provide the health screenings and preventative exams.  I believe that in providing services to assist children and their families that truly need our services to maintain a healthy and happy lifestyle.  I am assisting in providing social justice for this population to ensure that these children have the same medical advantages as other children their age do.  When a child is healthy they can grow and learn appropriately.  I will continue to provide these services as long as I am a part of such a wonderful primary care clinic that believes in the same mission and vision that I do; providing medical care to all in need. 

Background on the Head Start and UMOS Programs

UMOS child development division meets the needs of seasonal and migrant farm-workers in the rural Missouri area by providing early care and educational services.  My role was donation of my expertise skills and knowledge in family practice to provide childhood health screenings to the children that attend the childhood care center.  All of these children were Hispanic and bi-lingual.  However, some of the very young children were only Spanish speaking and the staff, who is also bi-lingual, assisted in translation.  I completed 15 well child health assessments at the child care center, including all components that a “well-child check” for that particular age would encompass.  I also made recommendations on any further health needs for each child, if there were any.  My role also involved assessing the child’s immunization status and determining what immunizations were still needed, as these were administered at a different time.  UMOS

On a side note...the day that I did Health exams, the Dentist also did dental screenings.  He has blonde hair and has a light complexion, I have dark hair and a dark complexion.  The children were very comfortable with me and laughed a lot and told me I looked like Doc McStuffin's or Dora the Explorer!!!  Of course I sang to them Doc McStuffin's songs and Dora songs, which they thought were hilarious!  It's just another way to make the children feel comfortable with you and gain their trust.  They were not as comfortable with him and the anxiety showed through tears and need of staff to be right with them.  I found it interesting the connection I had with this group of children because of physical features. 

Head Start is a national child development program for children from birth to age 5.  I assessed children from 2-6 years old, on 3 different days, in 3 different communities, 50 children total, for a total of 20 hours.  Another provider also completed assessments on approximately 50 children as well.  This program provides services to promote academic, social, and emotional development.  It provides nutritional services as well to income-eligible families.  The goal is to enhance the child's physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development.  In home assessments and services are also provided to help enable parents to be better caregivers and teachers to the children, while assisting parents to meet their own goals, including economic dependence.  Head Start is funded by the US Congress and administered through the DHSS.  It serves more than 18 million children and their families (Missouri head start association, 2015). Missouri Head Start

Why choose the kids?

Service Learning is a social commitment to service those in the community that are of the vulnerable, underserved, and diverse population groups.  In my previous service learning experience while in the MSN program at Regis, I also chose to commit my service learning time to the underserved children of the Head Start population.  From that experience I felt that the Head Start organization had such an important mission for the children of our rural communities that I implemented Service Learning, as well as a Head Start Child Development Clinical Rotation into the nursing curriculum I was teaching at the time.  My personal experience and reflection had such an impact, that it led me to encourage future nurses, through the same type of experience to see impact they could also have if they committed their time to the vulnerable, underserved, and diverse population groups within their communities.  This experience allowed them to "step out of their box" and reflect on how their knowledge, skills and commitment to others could assist in social justice.  So when it came to deciding what I would do for my Service Learning project this time it was an easy decision.

My role in how I am now serving the Head Start children and UMOS children has changed.  As I have transitioned from nursing education to an FNP, I am now providing medical care, and not students to assist with the screenings.  Until this year I have been involved in providing outreach services to the children of both Head Start and UMOS through a primary care clinic where I worked.  However this year I was not going to be involved due to other employment commitments until my Service Learning opportunity came up.  I then collaborated with the clinic to provide my knowledge and medical skills at the outreach clinics that were scheduled. 

So why choose the pediatric population?  Why the kids?  Providing children with health care has to be one of the most rewarding feelings in the world, that's why.  When a child laughs, smiles, hugs you, or holds your hand and stops crying because you didn't hurt them, that is a great feeling!  These children all come from low-income, many uninsured, and very underserved populations.  This may be the only time they ever see a medical provider.  Programs like Head Start and UMOS provide more than daycare, they provide nutrition and education to the children.  The staff at the child development centers are just as passionate about the care the children receive as I am about the medical care they receive.  The staff tries to ensure that all recommendations for medical care are met.  The services that my clinic provides for the children will continue as long as the Head Start and UMOS programs will continue to let us provide them for the children.  Social justice and providing medical care for all is our mission.