My Story
of Engagement
I
have completed 12 hours of service learning with the “The Free and Virginia G. Piper
Dental Clinics” which is located within the St.Vincent de Paul mission in
Phoenix, Arizona. The mission of the clinics is to provide no cost health care
to the under/uninsured clients within the community to include the homeless,
underserved, impoverished, and the mentally ill. St Vincent de Paul
demonstrates the building blocks of Catholic social teaching as described by
Byron (1998): (1) preservation of human
dignity; (2) respect for life; (3) protection of the poor; (4) stewardship; and
(5) preservation of the common good and social justice. In fact, these tenets
are congruent to the facets of servant leadership which are: listening,
empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, stewardship, and building a community
(Spears & Lawrence, 2002).
During
my service learning I treated all patients with compassion, empathy, dignity,
and respect. In the role of health care provider, I was able to assist in
English-Spanish translations in the “Every Little Step” (a diabetes prevention
program) and the “Every Little Tooth” (a dental caries/fluoride prevention
program). As an advocate for the underserved I participated in the “One Voice”
campaign in which health care providers met with local and state legislators to
dialogue and educate them on the plight of the under/uninsured and their access
to health care by round table discussions. As a steward, I judiciously controlled
expenses by bringing expired medical supplies from my institution to be used in
the Free Clinic. As an educated citizen in our society, my role as an emerging
DNP is rooted in social justice and the proliferation of the common good. This
is evident in using one’s skills and abilities to help the community
development competence in caring for all its members adequately.
I
have learned that motivation and moral courage begin by: 1)
clearing the mind; 2) desiring to
understand; 3) affirming the presence of the receiver; 4) establishing
confident confidentiality; 5) preparing to hear anything; 6) actively engaging
in and encourage dialogue; 7) avoiding assumptions; 8) following intuition with
flexibility; and 9) never giving up. I have used this model successfully as a
charge nurse, manager, house supervisor, nurse educator, and as an emerging
DNP.
My
experiences in service learning in this setting provided me with a large and
persistent exposure to the underserved in my community in which their needs far
exceeds our capacity to address them appropriately or adequately. In addition,
I learned that social justice is essentially providing and advocating for those
in need of basic social and humanitarian rights such as health care, adequate
nutrition, and preservation of human dignity.
Last Thoughts
“Far and away, the best prize that
life has to offer is the chance
to work hard at something worth
doing”—Theodore Roosevelt
References:
Byron, W. J. (1998). Ten building blocks
of Catholic social teaching. America
9-13.
Spears, L. C. & Lawrence
for
the twenty-first century. New York
