{"id":24891,"date":"2015-07-15T16:35:40","date_gmt":"2015-07-15T20:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=24891"},"modified":"2018-04-13T16:38:35","modified_gmt":"2018-04-13T20:38:35","slug":"nursing-major-finds-that-semester-cross-cultural-in-washington-d-c-provides-positive-pre-clinical-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/nursing-major-finds-that-semester-cross-cultural-in-washington-d-c-provides-positive-pre-clinical-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Nursing major finds that semester cross-cultural in Washington D.C. provides positive pre-clinical experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nancy Wharton, who comes from the small town of Strasburg, Virginia, \u201cdefinitely\u201d wanted to spend her cross-cultural semester in a different country. But the nursing student at Eastern Mennonite University spent some time looking at the \u201cbig workload\u201d she was getting herself into, and also wondered if going abroad for a semester late in her college career was a good move.<\/p>\n

The result: Wharton took advantage of finishing prerequisites early by spending the spring semester of her sophomore year at the Washington Community Scholar\u2019s Center <\/a>(WCSC), where she interned at the Community of Hope\u2019s Marie Reed Health Center<\/a> in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n

The experience \u201cgave me a solid foundation for the next two years of nursing studies<\/a>,\u201d Wharton said. \u201cAnd most of the time job rejections come in the form of lack of experience, so having an internship directly in my future career would hopefully help my resume.\u201d<\/p>\n

Add to that the fun of living in and exploring around Washington D.C. with friends and a true cross-cultural experience<\/a>, and Wharton says she gained far more than just vocational preparation. She has a new found confidence in her ability to navigate urban streets, and lots of great memories of new territory explored with friends.<\/p>\n

Plan ahead for better internship experience<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Washington<\/a>
Nursing student Nancy Wharton practiced relational skills while working with patients of all ages at the health clinic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Building a foundation of \u201ccultural competency\u201d and learning special communication skills was an important emphasis.<\/p>\n

Wharton\u2019s choice is one that WCSC director Kimberly Schmidt<\/a> hopes other pre-professional students will think about in the future. For many students in pre-professional programs with demanding course schedules, finding time for the required cross-cultural experience is difficult. Summer travel is one option, but with foresight and planning, students can fulfill cross-cultural requirements and gain valuable on-the-job training during the fall and spring semesters, said Schmidt.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver these terms, more opportunities are available in Washington DC, and supervisors have more energy and time for individualized instruction,\u201d says Schmidt.<\/p>\n

With fewer interns competing for attention, supervisors like registered nurse Roxana Trejo, at Marie Reed, can take the time to teach, guide and mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarie Reed is a wonderful learning environment, perfect for students who have little clinical experience and have not entered into nursing clinical rotations yet,\u201d says Schmidt. \u201cAnd because of our history and networking in the city, we have many other placement options that can meet other the needs of other pre-professional majors as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Intercultural nursing<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Marie<\/a>
Nancy Wharton outside the Marie N. Reed Community Learning Center, where the health clinic is located<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Community of Hope has hosted EMU students since the internship program began in 1976 as the Washington Study Service Year (WSSY). The organization helps low-income families, including the homeless and refugees, with housing, health issues, and employment. Originally a ministry of the Church of the Nazarene, the organization has been independently run as a non-profit since 1980 and is widely recognized and respected for its work.<\/p>\n

Marie Reed, in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood, is one of three health centers operated by Community of Hope. There, Wharton worked with grandmothers and their four-day-old grandchildren in the same day and with refugees \u201cfrom Russia to Ethiopia to South Africa and everywhere in between,\u201d she said. She helped homeless people and young struggling professionals looking for inexpensive healthcare.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think traveling just a short distance from EMU would expose me to so much diversity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In her daily responsibilities, Wharton worked with the medical assistants to conduct pre-visit record reviews. She greeted and \u201croomed\u201d patients, many of whom had limited English proficiency, took their vital signs and medical history, sometimes with the help of translators, and then entered information into the medical database.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometime we go to the lab and run tests, give shots, or assist the providers (doctors),\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot to get done within a limited amount of time but it\u2019s taught me so much about the operating system of the health care field and even more about effective ways to communicate with patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building a foundation of \u201ccultural competency\u201d and learning special communication skills was an important emphasis. \u201c\u2018Up\u2019 and \u2018down\u2019 may seem like simple words,\u201d Wharton said in a chapel presentation back on the EMU campus in April, \u201cbut in the context of discussing a dose of medicine, a miscommunication could result in serious problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since working in the public health field, Wharton says she\u2019s unsure which particular speciality she\u2019s interested in, but the experience confirmed her desire to become a nurse. She does know, however, that her time at Marie Reed has helped lay a strong foundation of critical skills for her future.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I started my internship before my clinicals, everything I\u2019ve learned about actually practicing nursing I owe to Marie Reed,\u201d she said. \u201cThe staff here is beyond wonderful to work with and they all cared so much about helping me learn what I needed to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Living and working in the city<\/h3>\n

In the end, Wharton\u2019s WCSC experience was a positive one, and that is partly due to her own motivation, says Kelsey Kauffman<\/a>, assistant director, who observed Wharton\u2019s \u201cblooming\u201d during the semester. (Kauffman, Schmidt and communications director Erica Grasse<\/a> are integral to the Nelson Good House community life: \u201cThis program wouldn\u2019t have been as special to me had it not been for them,\u201d Wharton wrote in a later email.)<\/p>\n

“Any cross-cultural is what a student makes of it,\u201d said Kauffman, who has conducted graduate research into cross-cultural studies in faith-based environments. \u201cBetween handling a variety of challenging situations in her internship adeptly and with great compassion, and stretching herself personally, Nancy has pushed the boundaries of her comfort zone intentionally and repeatedly.\u201d<\/p>\n

From visiting approximately 100 ethnic restaurants (yes, the housemates kept track) to exploring museums and enjoying concerts and sporting events, Wharton and her fellow cross-cultural students definitely made most of their experience together. That made all difference for Wharton, who was initially hesitant about living and working in the urban environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great living in such a supportive environment,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m very thankful for my housemates and they\u2019ve made this semester a great one for me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nancy Wharton, who comes from the small town of Strasburg, Virginia, \u201cdefinitely\u201d wanted to spend her cross-cultural semester in a different country. But the nursing student at Eastern Mennonite University ... read more about Nursing major finds that semester cross-cultural in Washington D.C. provides positive pre-clinical experience<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,5593,17571,5600,4513,14139,5730,12632],"tags":[16964,6795,16967,16715,9278,16963,16965],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-24891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-intercultural","category-internship","category-nursing","category-student-life","category-student-profiles","category-undergraduate-programs","category-wcsc","tag-community-of-hope","tag-diversity","tag-erica-grasse","tag-kelsey-kauffman","tag-kimberly-schmidt","tag-nelson-good-house","tag-washington-study-service-year"],"yoast_head":"\nNursing major finds that semester cross-cultural in Washington D.C. provides positive pre-clinical experience - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/nursing-major-finds-that-semester-cross-cultural-in-washington-d-c-provides-positive-pre-clinical-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nursing major finds that semester cross-cultural in Washington D.C. provides positive pre-clinical experience - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nancy Wharton, who comes from the small town of Strasburg, Virginia, \u201cdefinitely\u201d wanted to spend her cross-cultural semester in a different country. 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