Improving Wellness at the Well
Authors: Courtney Dibble, Azaliah Henry, Carrie Ma, and Samantha Strickland
Faculty Supervisor: Nicole Masano MSN, RN, CNM, CNE
Abstract:
“Improving Wellness at the Well” was a service-learning project that created an outreach to the poverty-stricken members of the Brunswick, Georgia community. The team of senior Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Student’s promoted health and wellness at the local homeless day-shelter called, The Well. First, each volunteer was asked to fill out a demographic inventory sheet to assess the populations age, gender, living arrangement, mental health diagnosis, and substance abuse addiction(s). Next, each member of the team educated the volunteered participants about health/hygiene, blood pressure management, and how to act in the case of a severe complication arising with high blood pressure that may increase a person’s risk for stroke and/or cardiac arrest (heart attack). The residents were then taught how to recognize signs and symptoms of a stroke or heart attack so that in the future they would know when to seek emergency care. The short-term goal to improve this population’s knowledge on hygiene and the ability to recognize emergency situations was successful upon the interventions taken by the BSN students.
The Well is open to donations especially of healthy foods, clothing, volunteer education, health screenings, and hygiene products at any time by dropping by their front desk located at 1101 Gloucester St, Brunswick, GA 31520 open from 0700 to 1700 Monday thru Sunday, or call (912) 275-7935.
