HOLY FAMILY UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF NURSING AND ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONS

HOLY FAMILY UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF NURSING AND ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONS

NURSING 345

Learning and Reflection Project

Purpose

Students will have an opportunity to identify community resources for older adults and reflect on their care of older adults during clinical rotations.

Objectives

1. Provide an opportunity for enhanced awareness of community needs, problems, and resources for older adults.
2. Increase appreciation of potential roles for nurses in the community and society.
3. Incorporate certain inherent values of nursing, including integrity, empathy, self-motivation, self-confidence, teamwork and diplomacy, respect, and client advocacy.

Components

1. Identify an agency in your area that provides services for older adults.
2. Complete a community agency assessment and Table for Community Agency:
   1. Complete a Community Agency Information Table (see example)
   1. All information on the table must be in your own words. Do not copy from a website (this is plagiarism). Do not copy and cite the entries in the table. All must be in your words.
   1. Address the following in paragraph form (1 page)
      1. Describe the community organization and the role it serves in the community.
3. Write a 1-2-page reflection regarding your nursing practice and care of older adults
   1. Consider your care of an older adult during clinical
   1. Reflect on what you have learned regarding communication with older adults, normal age-related changes, ageism, and special considerations for caring for older adults
   1. Describe the ways in which your care made assumptions about the older adult and/or the ways in which your expectations of the older adult were unrealistic
   1. Describe the ways in which you will improve or change the care you deliver to older adults based on what you learned in NUFT 345
   1. Would your patient benefit from the services provided by the community agency you identified? Why? Why not?
   1. Cite at least 2 scholarly references that are not a textbook to support your improved/changed care of older adults (eg. journal article)
4. Writing must be in APA format (title page, page numbers, Headings as needed, a reference page) with references cited appropriately. There is no need for an abstract
5. Assistance with writing and with APA formatting is available through the Center for Academic Enhancement and through the HFU Library.

How do I find a community agency?

There are MANY potential organizations.  Be sure that the organization that you choose primarily serves older adults.  You may not choose an organization in which you are already employed.  I have provided some examples of community agencies below; however, be creative and choose one that interests you!

Some potential community organizations:

Area agency for aging (ie. Philadelphia Corporation for Aging)

Meals on Wheels

MANNA (www.mannapa.org)

Church groups

Hospice

Senior centers

Adult day care centers

Support groups

Community Agency Table

Agency Name, Address, Phone Number, Website
Agency Mission
Agency Funding Sources
Eligibility	Who is eligible? Are there restrictions? Certain medical diagnosis required? Other eligibility requirements?
Access	Hours/days of service? Appointments required? Waiting period before access begins? If so, how long? Transportation – provided, near bus/train stops/stations? How does person get referred here?
Fees	Private pay? Insurance accepted? Medicare/Medicaid? Free to indigent? Other?
Service Summary	Be thorough about ALL services provided. What does this agency offer to the older adult? What types of staff members perform the services? Are they licensed/unlicensed?
Languages	Does the Agency offer staff who speak languages other than English?

Criteria	A Level (4 points)	B Level (3 points)	C Level (2 points)	D Level (1 point)	F Level (0 points)	Score
Completeness of Community Agency Table	Table includes clear, concise, and organized information.	Table includes somewhat clear and organized information.	Table includes unclear and disorganized information; not concise.	Table does not address directions with a complete answer	No table is included.
Quality of Reflection	Excellent understanding of the questions through well-reasoned and thoughtful reflections; factually correct and clear connection to the readings; substantive response; relevant references from scholarly resources to support comments are included; at least two of the references are from a resource other than assigned readings and textbook(s).	Good understanding of the questions through well-reasoned and thoughtful reflections; factually correct and clear connection to the readings; partially substantive response; limited references from scholarly resources to support comments; one of the references is from other resources.	Limited understanding of the questions without well-reasoned and thoughtful reflections; factually correct and somewhat clear connection to the readings; non-substantive response; no relevant references from scholarly resources to support comments.	Basic understanding of the questions; incomplete response; off-topic; irrelevant to the reflection activity; no references from scholarly resources to support comments.	No reflection.
Grammar and APA Format	Writing is grammatically correct; proper APA format is used with no errors; no misspellings/jargon.	Writing rarely has grammatical error; minor APA format errors.	Writing frequently has grammatical errors; major APA format errors.	Writing contains jargon, incomplete sentences, and misspellings; major APA errors.	Writing contains significant grammatical errors; does not use proper APA format.
						12 points