The strategic plans of The Ohio State University and the College of Nursing include goals to promote community engagement to help build Ohio’s future. Activities directed toward accomplishing this goal involve mutually beneficial collaboration with our partners in health care and related disciplines. Through these projects, faculty members and students engage in:
• teaching to enable learning beyond the campus walls
• research to generate knowledge that can be used beyond the academic community
• service to provide direct benefits to the public
Service learning
Under faculty supervision, undergraduate and graduate students provide important services to the community as part of their learning experiences. Examples of service learning projects include:
• a comprehensive assessment of the health needs of the Somali community
• staffing a health station at an inner city food kitchen to serve persons living below the poverty level
• providing immunizations and health screenings for temporarily homeless people at the YWCA Family Center in Columbus
• working with Columbus Public Health to identify issues of lead poisoning in the inner city Spanish-speaking population
• assessment of the immunization status of young children and provision of free immunizations at an annual health fair in an impoverished neighborhood
• more than 500 free physicals for children in Head Start and more than 50 sports physicals provided to children in middle and high schools
• physical examinations and care at a residence for formerly homeless women
• vision and hearing screenings provided to Marion County preschool children
• health screenings provided to Champagne County migrant workers
• screening and health care, including midwifery services, to residents of a rural village in Honduras, as part of an annual week-long international program
Faculty outreach projects
College of Nursing faculty members are actively engaged in several research and service-delivery projects in the community, including:
• participation in the NetWellness network, providing online health-related information to individuals throughout the state
• pro-bono group counseling sessions provided in multiple locations in Columbus
• educational sessions for nursing staff at Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Nurse-Family Partnership project
• organizational and service assessments of local public health departments in Marion County
• hybrid distance-based continuing education for public health nurses in Ohio and Pennsylvania
• educational sessions on behavioral issues for staff in facilities serving persons with severe mental illness
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Students, faculty, and staff from the College of Nursing and the College of Social Work collaborated to prepare and serve dinner at the YWCA Family Center in Columbus (top); student nurses and faculty provided flu innoculations and TB screening to center residents (bottom).
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