NATCHITOCHES – Senior Bachelor of Science in Nursing students at Northwestern State University’s Cenla campus connected people experiencing homelessness in downtown Alexandria with information about local resources while gaining experience they said will help prepare them for patient care.
The outreach was part of a community impact project completed during the students’ final semester in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. As part of the Level 5 curriculum, students assess health and safety concerns in assigned communities before developing projects that combine education and service.
Students Alyson Tarver and Ian David focused on homelessness in the downtown Alexandria riverfront area.
They researched resources available in Alexandria and distributed water and information about organizations that assist people experiencing homelessness, including Manna House, Hope House and the Salvation Army.
“The area that I focused on was the downtown Alexandria riverfront area,” Tarver said. “Our project was kind of focused on bridging the gap between the resources available and them actually getting access to those. We have resources like the Manna House, places like the Hope House and the Salvation Army, where they can go and find somewhere to stay. We went, and we gave out papers and water and told them about what resources are available.”
Tarver said the outreach gave students an opportunity to better understand circumstances they may not have encountered personally.
“A lot of us in class are really young, usually younger than the age of 25, so we haven’t really been out in the real world and seen what it’s like,” Tarver said. “I think being out there, seeing what it’s like, seeing how privileged we are and how other people have nothing, it’s hard to imagine, so it’s really good to see that.”
David said the project helped students learn about the organizations working to assist people experiencing homelessness and gave them experience outside a hospital setting.
“We were looking at homelessness in downtown Alexandria,” David said. “We just wanted to make sure that they had somewhat of a voice or some information that there are some places in Alexandria. They have the Manna House, where they can get food, and then they have the Hope House.”
David said much of the students’ nursing experience takes place in a hospital, making community-based projects an opportunity to encounter different people and services.
“I think it’s just a good opportunity for people to see what the real world is like,” David said. “The majority of our stuff is in the hospital, so it kind of gives us the opportunity to meet different people, see different things, see different organizations, how they run and how everybody kind of forms one goal to try and help out.”
The community impact project allows students to apply their nursing education to health concerns outside traditional clinical environments before graduating and entering professional practice.