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Class Act

Emory nursing students and faculty travel to the Bahamas (the 2011 group poses above) and Jamaica each winter and the Dominican Republic each spring to provide basic health care and education in a different cultural setting. 

Graduating seniors pay it forward for student travel

By Pam Auchmutey

Lauren Baldwin 11N 13MN is among the first students to complete the undergraduate portion of the accelerated BSN/MSN program. Baldwin, a former psychotherapist with a master’s degree in psychology, plans to work as a family nurse-midwife in a rural community.

The ABSN/MSN program has met her needs by providing “numerous opportunities to do service-learning in and out of the country, which is one of the reasons I came to Emory to study nursing,” she says.

She also is benefitting from the generosity of students before her. In 2008, graduating BSN students designated their senior class gift be used to support the Service Learning Trip Scholarship Fund. Fourteen students have received travel scholarships for the Alternative Winter Break program in Jamaica and the Bahamas and the Alternative Spring Break program in the Dominican Republic. Through these trips, students provide health care and education in another culture.

Last winter, Baldwin joined other students on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera to learn from Emory nursing faculty and local nurses. A travel scholarship funded by senior class gifts made it possible for her to go.

“Because I have debt from another degree, it’s hard to pay out of pocket for extra things,” says Baldwin.

During her weeklong immersion on Eleuthera, Baldwin gave flu vaccines, accompanied local nurses on home visits, and educated elementary, middle, and high school students about hygiene, nutrition, and disease prevention.  The experience allowed Baldwin to see health care delivery in a different light.

“It brought me back to what nursing is all about without the advantage of technical tools like ventilators, IV pumps, and x-rays,” she says. “I talked with residents to understand what their needs are in their own environment. It was interesting to see where they live and how that affects their health.”

Corrine Abraham RN MN, the school’s service-learning coordinator, accompanies students each winter to the Bahamas, where she partners closely with health and community leaders. The experience transforms the students every time.

“They come back with a paradigm shift of expectations,” says Abraham. “Students learn about a health care system that’s different from their own. They understand the fundamentals of health care while feeling part of something bigger than themselves.”

Gifts from the senior class ensure that students have that opportunity. “Their gift provides a legacy for future students,” Abraham adds. “No student should feel they can’t participate because they don’t have resources for travel.”