Day 7: Service Learning Day at the Soup Kitchen

A big part of this travel course was the service learning portion.  Students identified the health disparities and needs in the Swain county community prior to coming on this trip.  Today, we headed to a local soup kitchen in Waynesville, NC, called the Open Door Ministries.  Take a look at this link to see all the great things this place offers to members of the community and visitors.  

  Open Door Ministries  

The night before, students broke up into groups and tested their math skills.  They were given a specific budget and had to purchase items to donate to the Soup Kitchen.  We are so thankful to the UnityPoint Foundation for the grant provided, because it gave us a budget of $650 to purchase items for this soup kitchen.  The students did a great job selecting non-perishable food items, shirts, socks, and toiletry items.  The grand total was $649.86...$0.14 under budget!

We had a great day at the Soup Kitchen, and it was an eye-opening experience for all of the students.  We were able to help organize pantries, mop floors, make grocery packages, serve lunch, wash dishes, assist with organizing and pricing in the thrift store, clean toilets, and even educate many of the people that came to the kitchen about preventative health care.  The learning opportunities were endless and I know the students will be excited to share with you in their blogs about what they did.

One of the best parts of the day was handing out our donations we brought.  Everyone was so thankful for their clean shirts, socks, and health kits.  These are the opportunities that we love as nurses....when we can care for others and help them in small ways.

 Tomorrow we head home, and the students are ready to see their children, dogs, cats, and family.  We are excited to share with the college and the Foundation about all the amazing learning opportunities we had this week.

Day 6: Trip to Asheville, NC and Mission Hospital

Have you ever driven in the wrong direction for an extended period of time, without realizing it?  Well, this is exactly what happened to us this morning on our way to Asheville, NC.  Apparently I need to practice my "east" and "west" directions, because we went West instead of East for about 45 minutes.  It doesn't sound that bad, but the direction we headed took us winding up narrow mountain roads, and half of the students were carsick by the time we realized we were headed the wrong way.  Fortunately, a quick trip to Starbucks made everyone happy again, and we made it to our destination!

Mission Hospital is very similar to our UnityPoint Methodist hospital, yet there were some amazing new innovations the hospital had adopted.  There is a new wing being built, with double doors to every patient room, hoyer lifts built into all the ceilings to get patients out of bed and to the bathroom, and a private nurses station adjoining two patient rooms.  Nurses all have "panic" buttons attached to their name badges, in case they need extra assistance or immediate help.  The newer patient rooms are all equipped with the latest technology that connects to iphones that the nurses carry.  It would be interesting to have patients sending me text messages instead of utilizing a call light.  Take a look at the students' blogs to learn more about this hospital.

After the hospital tour, we headed to downtown Asheville to explore and go shopping.  Students found all kinds of unique purchases and one student full-filled his lifelong dream of playing on an African drum.

The students really wanted to go white-water rafting, but we missed the last send-off for the day.  So some students decided to catch up on their sleep and took naps at the cabin, whereas the other half of students tested their hiking skills and climbed up to Clingman's Dome - the highest peak in the Smoky Mountains.  We had a great time and even got to see two elks on the side of the road!

Day 4 & 5: Wilderness First Aid Course

It has been a very busy 2 days for the students.  On Tuesday and Wednesday, we participated in a Wilderness First Aid training course.  This course focuses on providing skills to a rescuer in a variety of situations that may occur in the "back country" or over 1 mile from the nearest road.  Over the two days, we learned about assessing a victim, moving victims with major injuries, caring for patients with shock, diabetes, fractures, animal or insect bites, frostbite, and anaphylaxis or spinal cord injuries.  The students' favorite part of the course was the live re-enactments that required all of us to participate.  You can see from the pictures how much fun they all had.  Now, all the students are certified for Wilderness First Aid for 2 years and can rescue anyone in need.  Hopefully we don't have to use our new skills this week!

Tuesday night the students also went to Unto These Hills, an outdoor drama that re-enacts the history of the Cherokee Indians and really portrays the emotional Trail of Tears for us to visualize how it impacted their future generations.  It was a late night, but students loved the drama and we even survived driving back up the mountain in the dark:)

Day 3: Monday

Today was a very busy, but great day!  We started off bright and early, and headed down the mountain to the Swain County Hospital.  This hospital is a rural hospital with a total of 22 beds.  We were able to meet with several people, such as the Chief Nursing Officer, quality and assurance manager, and even the Vice President of the hospital.  It is typical for the entire hospital to be run by 5 nurses, a couple CNAs, and just a few ancillary staff.  One of the nurses on the inpatient unit explained to the students how important it is for them to have a variety of skills and learn as much as they can.  She mentioned that in larger hospitals, it is more common for nurses to be skilled in just their own area of expertise, but rural health nurses have to be skilled in all areas.  How interesting it was to hear that they only admit approximately 2-4% of the patients that come to that hospital, and the rest have to be sent to larger hospitals, sometimes over an hour away.

We also learned first-hand about Southern hospitality, because when we arrived to the hospital, they had a full cooked breakfast for all the students!

After touring the hospital, we headed back to Cherokee and went to the Cherokee Indian Museum.  Students were able to learn about Cherokee beliefs, the 7 tribes, the effects of the Trail of Tears, and how important Cherokee customs are.  

We also visited the Ocanuluftee Indian Village to learn about the history of the Cherokee Indians and even participated in traditional Cherokee dances.  The students did a great job dancing!

The students unanimously voted to end the day with tubing down the Ocanuluftee River.  The students learned very quickly how cold mountain water can be.  We survived the trip, even though several students lost their tubes over the course and we had a few close calls with the rope swing.  We all laughed the entire way and there are so many entertaining videos for us to watch over and over.

     

                                                                                   

Travel Day 2: Sunday

Our day started off with an excellent continental breakfast at our hotel and a quick trip to Starbucks for some much needed caffeine.  Students were excited to learn more about the Appalachian culture and history at the Appalachian Museum.  

At the museum, we learned about all different aspects of the Appalachian culture, such as the importance of family, making what you need, and barriers to healthcare.  How interesting it was to see how far medicine and healthcare has advanced since the late 1800s.  Here we are pictured in front of a physician's small home filled with medical vials, herbs, and medicines I had never heard of.

After exploring the area for a couple hours, the kind people at the museum made us some "southern home-cookin' lunch", complete with corn bread, fried chicken, and mashed potatoes.

On our way to Cherokee, NC to find our cabin, the students saw a fun look-out point that they wanted to climb.  Several of them were not very fond of the height we climbed, but the color returned to their faces once we were back on the ground!  What a great view of the Smoky Mountains.

Finding our cabin turned out to be a little tricky.  When you are in the mountains, you can't rely on an internet connection and most of our phones had no signals.  We resorted to making friends with a neighbor in the mountains to help us find our cabin for the week.  After a few bumps (literally) in the rocky, narrow mountain road, we found our cabin!  Hannah and Kyle volunteered to help with the grocery shopping and we made it under budget!!!  

Tonight we made tacos with rice, cantaloupe, and brownies for dessert.  It was delicious and perfect after that stressful trip up the mountain.  The students worked to get their blogs finished early, so they could enjoy the hot tub!  
Tomorrow we are headed to the Swain County Hospital and then back to Cherokee to learn about their culture/beliefs.  It's only been 2 days, but the students have had a great time so far.

Travel Day 1: Saturday

Students arrived at the college bright and early today!  We had just enough time to take 1,000 pictures, and off we went.

Kyle dedicated his time to being our van DJ, while most of the students took advantage of the time to catch up on sleep.  Kendi was our technology assistant, helping Mrs. Mutchler set up her phone to connect with the other group.  

We stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch and filled up on the famous chicken n'dumplings with biscuits.  

We made it to the hotel around 6pm for the evening, Eastern Standard Time, and had a quick dinner before heading back to our rooms to blog for the night.  A hot shower and bedtime has never sounded so good.  

Last Class until we leave!

Students in the N393 Rural Health travel course have been busy researching health disparities in the Swain County of North Carolina.  We are learning about issues leading to health disparities in the rural Appalachian area.  Today, in our last class, students presented on some of the top health disparities (adolescent drug abuse, mental health issues, and the high prevalence of cancer and deaths from cancer).  

We are so excited to head to Cherokee this Saturday!  We know we have to pack light, get ready for a long van ride, and mentally prepare for all the amazing learning experiences we are about to have.  

If you click on a student's name on the left side of this blog, you will see their own personal blogs and what they are learning on this trip.  I know they are excited to share with all of you what they are doing!

Cherokee, NC here we come!