Community Health Project

NURS 471- Community Health Nursing II

Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to showcase the students involvement with various
community partnerships, which includes the utilization of the Health Planning Model to improve
aggregate health through the application of the nursing process.
Student Approach to Assignment
As part of the Rev Your Bev 757 community health group, I worked under the guidance
of leaders at the Consortium for Infant and Child Health (CINCH) to promote awareness
throughout the Hampton Roads community about the harmful effects of sugary beverages and
healthy alternatives that they can consume to promote a healthy lifestyle. While this assignment
was a group effort, I was involved in every aspect of the assessment, planning, intervention and
evaluation of the project. This assignment gave me a wonderful experience of providing health
education to both children and parents of diverse cultures within the community.
Reason for Inclusion of the Assignment in the Portfolio
This assignment is included in the portfolio because it highlights the efforts our group took to
research the incidence and effects of childhood obesity, outlines the plan of education and goals
we established for the members of the community and describes the effectiveness of our teaching
sessions.
Critical Thinking
Engages in creative problem solving.
Example: Our education sessions involved a combination of lecturing and
engagement in interactive games about sugary beverages and healthier alternatives.
Typically, the games were interspersed throughout the lecture time, so as to keep the
presentation exciting and maintain the childrens attention. Some groups, however,
tended to be larger and became rowdy and disruptive after participating in the games.
This paper addresses the measures we took to maintain the attention of larger groups
by reserving the games for the end of the presentation.
Nursing Practice
Establishes and/or utilizes outcome measures to evaluate the effectiveness of care.
Example: This paper outlined the following goals we established for the education
sessions: the children will identify three perceived learning objectives upon
completion of the presentation and verbalize understanding of the presented material
by correctly answering at least two of the three questions at the end of the
presentation. Pre- and post-surveys were also collected to evaluate the effectiveness
of the education sessions.

 Communication
Expresses oneself and communicates effectively with diverse groups and disciplines using
a variety of media in a variety of contexts.
Example: This project outlines the various locations we visited to provide education
sessions to diverse cultures within the community. It further describes the
partnerships we established and strengthened with various educational and
community health leaders. Our education sessions included the use of an educational
poster board, a Power Point presentation and visual aids (bags of sugar and
cans/bottles of sugary beverages) to augment the lecture sessions.
Accesses and utilizes data and information from a wide range of sources to enhance
patient and professional communication.
Example: This project described our methods in researching similar programs used in
the country to raise awareness of the negative health effects that occur with the
consumption of sugary beverages and adopting some of those methods to enhance our
teaching sessions, such as adding new interactive games to our presentation. To
further enhance learning sessions, we used printed information materials that children
could bring home and share with other family members. These printed materials also
included various coloring, crossword and word search games to engage children more
effectively. These print outs were obtained from the state of Virginias Rev Your Bev
website.
Teaching
Provides relevant and sensitive health education information and counseling to patients,
and families, in a variety of situations and settings.
Example: This paper lists the various settings we visited to provide health education
sessions to children and their families throughout the community. As a group, we
participated in over 50 presentations at local YMCAs, elementary schools, afterschool programs, physical education classes, daycare facilities, adult communities
and various health fairs.
Uses information technologies and other appropriate methods to communicate health
promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention across the lifespan.
Example: As described above, the educational material was presented to children,
their parents and members of an elderly community through the use of a poster board
(for groups of children), a Power Point presentation (for adult groups), visual aids and
paper handouts to augment the verbal presentation.
Evaluates the efficacy of health promotion and education modalities for use in a variety
of settings with diverse populations.
Example: This paper describes our use of a pre-survey that evaluated the participants
drinking and exercise habits. A post-survey was then conducted at the end of each
presentation to evaluate the effectiveness of our teaching sessions. The results from

each survey were collected either verbally (we asked the question and participants
raised their hands) or through collection of a paper copy. Detailed results were then
analyzed by members at CINCH and reported to our group at the conclusion of the
project.
Uses information technologies and other appropriate methods to enhance ones own
knowledge base.
Example: Through researching the prevalence of and effects of childhood obesity, I
was able to gain a true sense of how great a concern this issue is for our population.
The education sessions also allowed me to better understand the educational needs of
the local population on living a healthier lifestyle. Through the relationships we
established and the communication with local educational and community health
representatives, I increased my knowledge on what actions are (or are not) being
taken to promote the health of children and families in the area.
Research
Shares research findings with colleagues.
Example: In addition to a written format of this project, our group developed a Power
Point presentation of our assessment, planning, intervention and evaluation processes
that included the sharing of our research findings to our peers. The information was
presented to the seniors that have since graduated, our cohort of seniors and juniors
that will be taking over the project. Research findings that were shared included
information about childhood obesity and our findings from the pre- and post-survey
collections.
Leadership
Assumes a leadership role within ones scope of practice as a designer, manager and
coordinator of health care to meet the special needs of vulnerable populations in a
variety of practice settings.
Example: I assumed a leadership role alongside one of my peers within the Rev Your
Bev community health group. My role was to design a database in which we tracked
our presentation dates and locations, as well as contact information to be used for the
next group taking over for us. I also coordinated numerous presentations through
contacting facilities and networking through community health representatives to
meet the needs of children and families in the area.
Initiates community partnerships to establish health promotion goals and implements
strategies to meet those goals.
Example: This paper outlines the partnerships with YMCAs, elementary schools and
local community health leaders that we formed as a group to promote the awareness
of the Rev Your Bev campaign to increase the healthy behaviors of families in
Hampton Roads. Through strengthening existing partnerships, we were able to

network and establish new relationships to expand the benefits of this campaign
further.
Organizes, manages, and evaluates the development of strategies to promote healthy
communities.
Example: This paper highlights the measures we took to organize and re-develop the
strategies used to provide health education to members of our community. While we
were provided with the strategies the previous group used, we re-designed the
presentation layout and structure to better educate the populations we visited.
Evaluation of our strategies was measured throughout each presentation through
observation and adjustments were made as needed.
Culture
Considers the impact of research outcomes and the effects of health and social policies
on persons from diverse backgrounds.
Example: The community health project details the research we conducted regarding
childhood obesity and the factors that contribute to its incidence, including the
sociocultural background of the family in which the child resides with. Our research
findings regarding the abundance of unhealthy food options to families in lower
socioeconomic areas and its relation to childhood obesity can have an effect on both
health and social policies. Policy makers could use this information to benefit the
populations living in such areas to better promote healthy lifestyles.
Maintains awareness of global environmental factors that may influence the delivery of
health care services.
Example: This project afforded me the opportunity to research the prevalence of
childhood obesity as a result from the daily excessive sugar intake that is significantly
increased in the United States compared to other areas around the globe. While
childhood obesity is a global concern, there are many environmental and cultural
factors that influence the availability of fresh and healthier food options compared to
the United States, where the convenience of processed and highly sweetened foods is
much more prevalent than other areas around the globe. This significantly influences
the delivery of health care services for our country, where other areas around the
globe are less impacted by this health concern.