Undergraduate Nursing Student Reflections on Academic Service Learning Experiences - A Qualitative Study

The provision of nursing care has shifted toward integrated primary care (provision of community health services by an interprofessional team), requiring that nurse educators take steps to ensure students have opportunities to learn and practice the leadership and professional skills required to function as members and leaders of interdisciplinary teams. We developed the Transforming RN Roles in Community Based Integrated Primary Care (TRIP) program for undergraduate nursing students to facilitate this learning. During clinical immersion, students participated in academic service learning (ASL) activities consisting of a minimum of 25 h of clinical agency service each semester. This descriptive qualitative design captures recurring themes in the ASL reflections of eight nursing students participating in the inaugural TRIP cohort. Three themes were identified (1) "Embracing the Nursing Profession" (2) "Utilizing the Professional Skills of Nursing" and (3) "I Am A Nurse". We urge our faculty colleagues to consider incorporating ASL experiences into their undergraduate activities. We believe the effort to initiate, develop and sustain these partnerships will pay handsome dividends in terms skill and confidence enhancements for our undergraduate nursing students.