Reflection

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 have three agencies that I serve. I am a member of Save a Leg, Save a Life. Our organization sponsors RNs who are pursuing their WOCN certification. We gave money to two scholars this year. The checks were given to the scholars in our meeting at Porter’s on 10/14. SALSAL aims to help increase the public’s awareness of diabetic foot ulcers and the consequences of getting foot wounds that result to devastating amputations and loss of life. To help increase this awareness, SALSAL holds several educational seminars that target the clinicians. There was also a service activity done for the public where it invited folks that need their wheelchairs and walkers repaired. This organization is sponsored by its members—clinicians as well as sales representatives of different companies that sell wound care products. The other agency that I serve is the Ostomy Association of Metro Denver. We have ostomy support groups which I attend. The meetings are held monthly. The meetings are now held at Porter’s. I was the guest speaker in one of the meetings. In another recent meeting, I invited representatives from a home health agency and a skilled nursing facility. They talked about what services they provide and who qualifies for their services. In this meeting, I also invited sales representatives from a company that makes skin barrier films that are used in treatment of peristomal denudation. The product the company is selling is called cyanoacrylate. The use of the product was discussed and demonstrated to the ostomy support group members. The third person who spoke was my friend, Jeff who is also a CNA at Lutheran Medical Center. Jeff had an ostomy from Crohn’s. Right now he has a J pouch and he discussed his journey when he was dealing with an ileostomy and his journey when he had the J pouch. He currently has a J pouch so he discussed how it is to live with one. There are ostomy support group members who are considering getting this J pouch surgery so Jeff provided good information. He is young, employed and currently going to school to be an RN. He has a degree in kinesiology. The members were so enlightened to hear about his life experiences. Jeff was enthusiastic. He is very helpful. I introduced him by email to my other fellow CWOCNs and guess what? They are interested to invite him to talk in one of our meetings. One of them got his contact information so she can give it to her patients who are inquiring about the J pouch. He is ok with this and has, in fact, been corresponding with one of the Kaiser CWOCNs! What a good resource. I am glad I am doing this Service Learning—look at all these resources I discovered. The third agency I serve is the CWOCN. I volunteered for the WOCN Regional conference as a room monitor. That also involved me introducing the speakers in a couple of the seminars. I also donated goods for the fundraising. I brought one CNA from Lutheran to attend and she was so pleased to learn from the different speakers. The CWOCN group is supported by the members. The sales representatives of different wound, ostomy and continence products also sponsor the group. As for the support group, we members pay our dues. What roles do DNPs play in promoting health and wellness in undeserved population? How do you perceive your individual role in this? The main focus of my DNP project is helping the ostomates also called ostomists or ostomy patients. I can help in their education. Participating in the ostomy support group, I can help by giving them access to an ostomy nurse. In my project, I plan to do an educational in-service regarding peristomal skin care among the home health nurses. This will also be helpful in increasing awareness regarding the needs of the ostomy patients. Once I am done with my DNP program, I plan to volunteer in the public policy committee to help lobby for the causes of the ostomates as well as the CWOCNs. I also have a knack with marketing and I am good in creating networks. So also plan to belong to that committee as well. The WOCN organizations have several committees. What was the best/worst/most challenging thing that happened to you this semester? The best experience was meeting people like Jeff who are willing to talk about their ostomies with others. I also met another lady who heads the IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) and Colitis Foundation. This is an article about her http://www.reporterherald.com/lifestyles/health/ci_24248487/advocate-has-fire-her-belly-awareness-bowel-syndromes Her name is Lois Fink. It is so inspiring to listen to hear talk about her experiences with IBD. She has been a courageous fighter! The most challenging experience is completing my presentation. I will do a PowerPoint but it must be short, sweet and to the point. I have only one hour to do the in-service and the time includes the answering of the pre-, post-test and the short demographic information. I have to practice the presentation several times to make it concise. I have finished most of the PowerPoint but I still need to edit it some more. 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? I plan to be active in the public policy committee of the WOCN organization. There are so many school requirements right now and with a full time job as the lead of the WOCN program at Lutheran, I have my hands full. But once I am done with my DNP, I know I can do more for the organization. What is exciting now is I invite RNs, CNAs, and nursing students to come to SALSAL, the ostomy support group, and even the CWOCN meetings. Engaging other non-WOCN clinicians will help increase awareness of what the CWOCNs do and also increase awareness regarding ostomy care.