A partnership for community-based nursing experience: Head Start/Harper College

In an effort to provide a meaningful community-based nursing experience for the students of William Rainey Harper College, a project was developed with the Community Economic Development Association of Cook County, Illinois to link second-year nursing students and clients in a Head Start program. The goals were designed to meet the needs of both the students and the Head Start clients. The students provided a portion of the health service plan for the Head Start families, and at the same time they received a comprehensive community/family learning experience. Throughout the second year of the nursing program the students followed their assigned family utilizing a unique integration of pediatric and psychiatric nursing concepts. The article will outline the project from development to completion of the first year of student involvement. It will address successes, failures, and changes made in the second year of the program.