Medical Service-Learning in Rural Kenya: Examining the Key Learning Experiences of Senior Nursing Students

• In Event: 25.068 - Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: 25.068-4 - Critical Service-Learning in Education

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the learning experiences of five senior nursing students after a service-learning trip to Kenya. Researching shifts in cultural understanding and interactions are helpful for educators across disciplines preparing university students to work with varying people groups. Mezirow’s transformational theory was incorporated to examine specific insights of these nursing students as they reflected on their medical and cultural learning experiences, and demonstrated shifts from their prior knowledge. Preliminary themes from the data included: Teambuilding and Collaboration; and, Feeling Unprepared. The students overcame their feelings of unpreparedness and used this experience to further their nursing knowledge and treatment of the Kenyans. The information gained from this study can help inform other institutions preparing for similar service learning experiences.

Authors

• Eloise Miriam Hockett, George Fox University

• Linda L. Samek, George Fox University

• Stephanie Joy Fisher