Caring, Culture, and Service
Carmon Weekes, RN, MSN
University of Detroit Mercy Faculty
University of Texas at Tyler Doctoral Student
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Purpose of Presentation
Goal of Envision Conference
“Conference seeks to explore the various aspects of
caring”
•Academic
•Clinical
•Research
Presentation will show how caring, culture, and service
are integrated into the academic setting
Service Learning as a strategy to develop caring and
cultural competence
Provide two examples of student projects
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What is Caring
Watching over, attending to, and providing for
the needs of others.
Taken from, Chitty ,K.K. & Black. B.P. (2007) Professional Nursing Concepts and Challenges
(5th ed)
Involves actions.
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Caring in Nursing’s Social Policy
American Nurses Association’s Nursing’s Social Policy Statement, 2nd Ed
Four Features Essential to Defining Nursing
“Attention to the full range of human experiences and responses to health
and illness without restriction to problem-focused orientation”
“Integration of objective data with knowledge gained from an understanding of
the patient or group’s subjective experience”
“Application of scientific knowledge to the processes of diagnosis and treatment”
“Provision of a caring relationship that facilitates health and healing”
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Caring as a Nursing Ethic
American Nursing Association Guide to the Code of Ethics
Dr. Linda Olsen summarizes Dr. Watson’s Ethics of Caring
Caring is one of the core values of nursing
Caring is a mark of professional excellence
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Culture
What is culture?
Probably never a universal definition of culture (Kao, Hsu,&
Clark (2004)
Attempt to define culture will be tricky (Cohen, 2009)
Definition used for this presentation:
“Socially transmitted ways of thinking, believing, feeling, and
acting within a group. These patterns are transmitted from one
generation to the next.”(Gollnic & Chinn, 2009, p. 405)
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Cultural Competence
How is cultural competence defined?
A set of behaviors, attitudes, and skills that enables
nurses to work effectively in cross-cultural
situations.(Office of Minority Health Web, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
Why is it important in nursing education?
How can nursing educators impact student
behaviors, attitudes, and skills to promote cultural
competence?
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Caring and Culture in the Academic
Setting
Introduce students to culture, caring, and nursing
theories in introductory courses.
Reinforce teaching throughout the curriculum.
Provide experiences to reinforce classroom
instruction including facing their own biases.
Sample in class activity: “What do you think?”
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What do you think ?
Look at the following slides and think of
how these images affect you.
What conclusions might you draw prior to
interacting with the person?
As a culturally competent nurse what
should you do?
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What Did You Think?
Emotions and feelings evoked?
Biases?
Will facing biases promote understanding,
tolerance, caring, and cultural competence?
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University of Detroit Mercy Students
2004 - 2007 Enrollment
Total enrollment
6,023
Undergraduate enrollment
3,830
Percent of undergraduate enrollment
by race/ethnicity
Non-resident alien 6%
Black non-Hispanic 31%
American Indian or Alaskan Native 1%
Asian or Pacific Islander 3%
Hispanic 2%
White non-Hispanic 48%
Other 10%
University of Detroit Mercy information provided by the National Center
for Education Statistics and the Carnegie Foundation.
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Wayne County Population by Race
2009
Black persons, percent,
2009 (a)
39%
American Indian and
Alaska Native persons,
percent, 2009 (a)
0%
Asian persons,
percent, 2009 (a)
3%
Native Hawaiian and
Other Pacific Islander,
percent, 2009 (a)
0%
White persons,
percent, 2009 (a)
52%
Persons reporting two
or more races, percent,
2009
1%
Persons of
Hispanic or Latino
origin, percent,
2009 (b)
5%
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Wayne County Language and
Birthplace Diversity
10.80%
6.70%
Foreign born persons, percent, 2000
Language other than English spoken at
home, pct age 5+, 2000
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Service Learning and the Institute for
Service and Learning
“Essentials of Service – Learning: Direct service experience is not just
volunteering, but working WITH other people directly, so that we come to
know them as persons just as we ourselves are.”
(Retrieved from http://www.udmercy.edu/institute/service_learning/forms/index.htm)
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The Partnership
McCauley School of Nursing and the
Institute for Service and Learning
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The Courses
Introduction to Professional Nursing
6 hours of Service Learning
Intervening with Families and
Aggregates at Risk
9 hours of Service Learning
Community Health Nursing
Semester Long Community Care Project
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Service Learning Course
Requirements
Select site to complete service learning requirements
Site selection is from UDM partner sites
Should provide opportunity for interaction with clients at the site
Contact site and establish plan for service
Communicate with instructor regarding service learning assignment at
times designated in syllabus
Complete required service learning reflection paper
Groups presentation in class
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Service Learning – Site Selection
SL3: Service Placement Report
2010/Roster for 01_NUR2040_02_WEEKES
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Service Learning Form 1: Registration
Your Leadership Self-evaluation: Service-Learning is not just a service project. It is the use of service to help
develop graduates who lead and serve in their communities.
Please rate your Current level of competence in each from 1(low) to 5 (high)
[ ] Listening: listening intently to others, getting in touch with one's own inner voice.
[ ] Empathy: understanding and empathizing with others.
[ ] Healing: care for yourself and your relationship to others
[ ] Awareness: General awareness, self-awareness, ethics, power and values.
[ ] Persuasion: use of persuasion rather than positional authority; consensus-building
[ ] Conceptualization: thinking to encompass the broader-based “big picture”
[ ] Foresight: the ability to foresee the likely outcome of a situation
[ ] Stewardship: a commitment to serving the needs of others
[ ] Commitment to the growth of people: nurturing growth of employees and colleagues
[ ] Building community: developing and modeling interdependence
4. Your Social Justice Issue Interest: In your Service project and in your studies and career, the following are areas
in which you can have impact, just by the way you do what you do.
Please rate your interest in each issue from 1(low) to 5 (high)
[ ] Dignity of the Human Person: All people are sacred. People do not lose dignity because of disability, poverty,
age, lack of success, or race.
[ ] Community and the Common Good: We realize our dignity and rights in relationship with others, in
community. We are called to respect creation, be good stewards of the earth & each other.
[ ] Rights and Responsibilities: People have a fundamental right to life, food, shelter, health care, education and
employment. Corresponding to these is the duty to work for the common good.
[ ] Option for the Poor: The moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. The poor have
the most urgent moral claim on the conscience of the nation, and our good efforts
[ ] Dignity of Work: People have a right to decent and productive work, fair wages, private property and economic
initiative. The economy exists to serve people, not the other way around.
[ ] Solidarity: We are one human family. Our responsibilities to each other cross national, racial, economic and
ideological differences. We are called to work globally for justice.
[ ] Care for God's Creation: The goods of the earth are gifts from God. We have a responsibility to care for these
goods as stewards and trustees, not as mere consumers and users. C. Weekes Envision 2010
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Service Learning Form 2:
Service Agreement Student
To Be Completed and signed by student & service site volunteer
coordinator; to the teacher by 4th week of class
Starting Year / Month _ Course #(i.e.Mus1000) _ Section _
Teacher’s last name, as much as fits
Your Last Name
First Name
Name of Agency to be served
Last Name of agency representative
First Name
Agency Street Address
City
ZIP
Agency representative phone
Title of agency representative
Agency representative e-mail
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Service Learning Form 3: Service
Verification
To be completed & signed by student & service site volunteer
coordinator and delivered to your teacher by 12th week of class
Starting Year / Month _ Course # (i.e.Mus1000) _ Section _
Teacher’s last name, as much as fits
Your Last Name
First Name
Name of Agency served
Last Name of agency representative
First Name
BEFORE STARTING: What do you hope to do, and what do you hope to
learn that will apply to this course?
AFTER SERVING:
What did you actually do, and what did you actually learn that applies to this
course?
What was most encouraging and what was most discouraging?
Thank you for giving our student this opportunity to serve in a way that helps
them learn.
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Service Learning End of Course
Evaluation
1. Your Leadership Self-evaluation, before this course and now: Please rate
your level of competence BEFORE this course (column B) and NOW (column N)
in each item below, from 1(low) to 5 (high)
Before Now
[ ] [ ] Listening: listening intently to others, getting in touch with one's own inner
voice
[ ] [ ] Empathy: understanding and empathizing with others
[ ] [ ] Healing: care for yourself self and your relationship to others
[ ] [ ] Awareness: General awareness, self-awareness, ethics, power and values
[ ] [ ] Persuasion: use of persuasion rather than positional authority; consensusbuilding
[ ] [ ] Conceptualization: thinking to encompass the broader-based “big picture”
[ ] [ ] Foresight: the ability to foresee the likely outcome of a situation
[ ] [ ] Stewardship: a commitment to serving the needs of others
[ ] [ ] Commitment to the growth of people: nurturing growth of employees and
colleagues
[ ] [ ] Building community: developing and modeling interdependence
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Service Learning End of Course Evaluation
Continued
2. Your Social Justice Issue Interest, before this course and now: Please rate your level of
concern BEFORE this course (column B) and NOW (column N) in each item below, from
1(low) to 5 (high)
Before Now
[ ] [ ] Dignity of the Human Person: All people are sacred. People do not lose dignity
because of disability, poverty, age, lack of success, or race.
[ ] [ ] Community and the Common Good: We realize our dignity and rights in relationship
with others, in community. We are called to respect creation, be good stewards of the
earth & each other.
[ ] [ ] Rights and Responsibilities: People have a fundamental right to life, food, shelter,
health care, education and employment. Corresponding to these is the duty to work for
the common good.
[ ] [ ] Option for the Poor: The moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable
members. The poor have the most urgent moral claim on the conscience of the nation,
and our good efforts.
[ ] [ ] Dignity of Work: People have a right to decent and productive work, fair wages, private
property and economic initiative. The economy exists to serve people, not the other way
around.
[ ] [ ] Solidarity: We are one human family. Our responsibilities to each other cross national,
racial, economic and ideological differences. We are called to work globally for justice.
[ ] [ ] Care for God's Creation: The goods of the earth are gifts from God. We have a
responsibility to care for these goods as stewards and trustees, not as mere consumers
and users.
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Example of Service Learning Project
Boys
and
Girls
Club
Located in Detroit
Children age 6-16 years
Services target to children failing in school,
living in poverty, from at risk families.
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What Students Gained from Service Learning
“Doing our service in Detroit opened up our eyes to the
difference in the socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds.”
“So this in the long run taught us something of cultural
competency.”
“Simply driving down to the club resembled something of a
different world with abandoned houses and rubbish littering
the ground.”
“Many of the children would also ask us for a dollar to buy a
snack, demonstrating the differences in our socioeconomic
statuses.”
Megan Petzold, Megan McMahon & Olivia MacPhee
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Community Health Care Project
Semester long project in senior year.
Must focus on a population at risk.
Document Healthy People 2010 objective being met.
Must work with community partners and stakeholders within the
community they are assigned to.
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Community Health Care Project at
an Urban Elementary School
NRA Gun Safety
HP 2010 Objective 15-32
Fourth and Fifth Graders
Majority African American Male
Mostly Middle to Working Class
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What Students Gained from the
Community Health Care Project
Insight into cultural and ethnic groups that are different from
themselves.
Collaboration with various cultural groups to meet a defined
health care need.
Further develop caring through service at the aggregate level.
Learning to care for and care about at risk populations.
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Service Learning and Community
Health Care Projects………..
Promotes interaction with others, providing an opportunity to serve
the client in the community.
Promotes student nurses awareness of their personal experiences and
biases.
Increases the Nursing Student’s consciousness thereby allowing them
to develop a transpersonal caring relationship with the clients they
serve.
Supports learning that each person is different and EACH interaction is
a cultural encounter.
Increases cultural competence through their interactions and decreases
cultural stereotyping.
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UDM Student Testimonials
“I learned that I still have it in me to be
compassionate to those in need.”
“I was able to bond with some of
the kids (at my placement).”
“Most encouraging was seeing the
positive impact the center has on
families.”
Retrieved from http://www.udmercy.edu/institute/service_learning
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Conclusion
I Dare
to
Care
I’m a Nurse
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Envision Conference program
committee for inviting me to present.
Dr. Barbara K. Haas, PhD, RN, University of Texas at Tyler
Doctoral Program Chair, for her support and encouragement.
Mr. David Nantis former director for the institute of Service
and Learning at the University of Detroit Mercy for his
assistance.
My nursing students for sharing their project information.
Carmon Weekes, MSN, RN
weekescv@udmercy.edu
cweekes@patriots.uttyler.edu
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