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, 179(13),  

            9-13.

Spears, L. C. &  Lawrence, M. (eds.). (2002).  Focus on leadership:  Servant-leadership

            for the twenty-first century.  New York:  John Wiley.