Community service is a volunteer activity that is included in the mission statement of many institutions. Nurses serve on community boards, raise money for health awareness, and bring a number of skills to the community setting – participating in health screenings, educating consumers about health concerns, and providing direct services that promote health and minimize risk factors.
While nurses make contributions to improve communities, they also gain from these activities. Nurses benefit from hearing what its like to live in a community with few support services, limited pubic transportation, few jobs for those without college degrees, and children who face a number of risk factors. These experiences create a context in which nurses can see the world of the patients they care for on a daily basis. They must communicate in ways patients and family members will understand so that healing and recovery can occur at home. They must adapt their usual instructions and improvise treatments to the communitys resources and deficits. They must build on the community networks they have identified to offer patients and family members sources of support in their own communities.
Many nurses cite their desire to make a difference in the lives of others as a primary reason for entering the nursing profession. Providing services in our challenged communities allows nurses to see firsthand what time, energy, and talent can do for individuals and families. While there is visible change in communities, nurses are changed from the experience as well. They get a sense of reality and how important small changes are in the big scheme of life. Getting a bus to add another stop is a small step, but it can make a huge impact on the isolated elderly. There is also activism to make things right. Nurses have found their political voice because there is much to be done to improve the health conditions of our vulnerable populations. There is also the discovery of knowledge about communities that contributes to the professions practice standards.
The gaps between what we think are the priority needs for communities are adjusted, giving the nursing profession dynamic academic programs and clinical practices. Nurses give to communities, but they also get much in return. These interactions keep nurses in the forefront of healthcare delivery.
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