And at the Army Surplus store. Also in Arvada

Promoting the Events

At downtown Arvada! The wonderful Dolce Vita staff posted our communit event flyer!!! 

For SALSAL community event

I plan to drop these off at doctors' offices today. 

Medihoney

Meeting at Oxford Hotel. CWOCN planning for regional meeting 

Scholarship announced

Two RNs selected for the SALSAL scholarship. Yay. More Cwocns! 

Reflections

Review in detail your service learning site. Where are you serving? What do the agencies do? Who are the clients and what needs are served? What is the agency funding support? I am doing service learning activities for three agencies. I still attend the Ostomy Support Group that meets at Englewood, CO. They will have a potluck in July which I plan to attend. This group meets to help the members who are all ostomies. These ostomies are incontinent ones—either fecal or urinary. They are almost always permanent but those with temporary ostomies are also welcome. There are not many home health nurses nor clinic based nurses who are CWOCN certified. The ostomy support group is sometimes the only forum where the patients get support and education way after their surgery. This group is being funded by its members and the vendors such as the ostomy products and accessories manufacturers also come and talk to the group. The second agency that I helped is Exempla Lutheran’s Cancer Center. The hospital has a fundraising in May and they also invite the cancer survivors to this event. The activity is called Leaves of Hope. They have a short walk/run competition. They also have an information fair where different non-profit groups talk to the cancer survivors, their families, the clinicians, volunteers and other attendees. They set up tents to accommodate all the vendors. There was also a singing group called Chris Daniels and the Kings who performed to entertain the attendees. I was a course marshal and also a proud trash collector. There were food and drinks. The garbage cans fill up so I have to help empty the cans. As a course marshal, I have to make sure the participants are running the 5k or the 10k. Not many ran the 10k marathon. The runners will say, “Just the 5k!” That activity was fun. The volunteers like me helped celebrate the cancer survivors and we also helped raise money for the hospital’s cancer center. The third agency, I belong to is Save a Leg Save a Life. The organization has community activities to help the patients with lower extremity wounds, mostly diabetics. They also have various educational seminars that clinicians attend. The last one was June 10. It was held in St. Josephs’ hospital in Denver. The speaker was Dr Arbuckle. He talked about the atypical lower extremity wounds such as bullous pemphigus, and pyoderma gangrenosum. This organization helps the diabetic patients, mostly. They also help clinicians get more education regarding lower extremity wounds. The members, like me, pay the yearly dues. What roles do DNPs play in promoting health and wellness in undeserved population? How do you perceive your individual role in this? The Ostomy Support group of Denver, the one that meets in Englewood, directly helps the patients. The group takes donations of products that other folks are not using. There are times that ostomies are reversed so the former ostomy patient does not need the products anymore. Other times, the patient just switch brands for whatever reason. There are also cases when the patient passes away and the family or caregivers donate the unused products. The meetings serve as forums where patients meet other patients with ostomies. If they are not aware of how to deal with their ostomies, the other patients are willing to give them information. One patient had questions regarding sexual activities and he said he had no clinicians addressing his issues. He was happy to hear tips from the other members of the group. The most common issue of course is leaking and peristomal skin issues. The other members have many solutions for those issues. Other issues that arise concern clothing. One of the most innovative yet inexpensive ways a young ostomy member suggested was the use of maternity binders that can be purchased from stores like Target. Wow! What a brilliant solution—and so accessible, too. What was the best/worst/most challenging thing that happened to you this semester? The challenge I encounter is time constraint. The SALSAL group and the Ostomy group meet at night. After a long day at work, I get very exhausted attending a meeting. The Leaves of Hope was a Sunday so that was easier because I am off on Sundays. The best experiences are numerous! • I met many cancer survivors in the Leaves of Hope who had survived many years. Some have been cancer-free for 20 years, some just a year out. But how wonderful! The survivors are grateful for their second chance in life. It makes me appreciate my life and my health! While I have good health, I should be active and engage in worthwhile activities such as doing my doctorate, getting good work published such as in poster presentations, and later, I hope, my project for Regis. I plan to publish in the WOCN Journal. • Dr Arbuckle cried when he was talking about how he and his partner have a non-profit that cares for bullous pemphigus pediatric patients. They take them out to ski or do other outdoor activities. It is great to meet folks who are enthusiastic about the work they do. • I never cease to admire the ostomy members. There is a couple who have had it for 30 years. It is a drastic body image change. It takes time and effort to adjust to living with wearing an ostomy pouch. I also admire the two young members in their 30s who have permament ostomies. They are working. They are active—they climb, bike, camp. That should inspire me to be active. How much easier it is for me to hike compared to these young ostomates. They worry about emptying their pouch. They worry about the pouch not leaking. They have to think about where they can change their pouches but still they go and get active. They are both slender and fit, too. • The president of the Ostomy support group in Denver is a psychotherapist. She works. She shared that at times, she has to explain to her clients why she is making “tummy” sounds. What can you do differently as an individual and as a professional to support and advocate for some of the issues you encountered during your service learning experience? From attending the Ostomy group, I also confirmed about the lack of community-based care for these ostomy patients. I used to also work in home health so I am aware of the need to educate home health nurses regarding ostomy care. There are also only a few CWOCNs (Certified wound, ostomy and continence nurses) who work in home health. And of course, the written literature also confirms all these. These are the reasons why the focus of my DNP project is educating home health nurses on peristomal skin care. I would like to reach out to home health agencies and start ostomy education with the home health nurses as learners. I plan to publish my findings after I finish my project. I even want to take this to Nevada once I already have my DNP. I will do a similar project and go through the same process. I may be able to get a grant from the WOCN society. There is paucity in research in ostomy care. This is another area that I can contribute to with my DNP project and beyond. As an individual, I will continue volunteering for the three agencies. I will also be more active in the WOCN Society. This October, I plan to do service learning hours helping the regional, Rocky Mountain group.