Critical service learning in community health nursing: enhancing access to cardiac health screening

Critical service learning (CSL) offers promise for preparing community health nursing students to be advocates for social justice and social change. The purpose of this article is to describe a community based CSL project designed to provide cardiac health screening to an underserviced population, wherein nursing's role in social justice is integrated into nursing practice. First, the relationship between social justice and CSL is explored. Then, the CSL approach is examined and differentiated from the traditional service learning models frequently observed in the nursing curriculum. The CSL project is described and the learning requisites, objectives, requirements, and project outcomes are outlined. While not a panacea for system reform, CSL offers nursing students avenues for learning about social justice and understanding the social conditions that underlie health inequalities. Nurse educators may benefit from the new strategies for incorporating social justice into nursing curriculum; this paper suggests that CSL offers one possibility.