This semester, I had the privilege of participating in a collaborative service-learning project called “The Blanket Project.” This project involved a team of Bachelor of Science in Nursing students from the University of New England’s (UNE) Portland and Biddeford campuses, and we worked as an interprofessional group to connect with and assist marginalized communities in Portland, Maine. Faculty members, Trisha A Mason, the Director of WCHP Service Learning, and nursing professor, Esmeralda Ulloa, assisted with our student-led project. Teamwork, dedication, and collaboration between the students and faculty enabled the creation of fifteen fleece, no-sew blankets with accompanying laminated notecards that included inspirational messages and a list of community resources to support local people in need. Once completed, we delivered the blankets and notecards to a homeless day shelter and food distribution center named Preble Street Resource Center, located in the heart of Portland. The center’s staff then distributed the blankets and notecards to consumers who may suffer from mental illness, homelessness, and/or addiction. These individuals often do not have access to necessities, such as warm blankets, especially in the frigid winter months. This service-learning opportunity aimed to immerse us in this community to provide valuable support while promoting emotional, physical, and mental health. In doing so, I had the opportunity to deepen my understanding of Interprofessional Practice (IPP) and achieve the course objectives for the class, “Passport to Integration,” that I will discuss during this paper. 

Throughout this experience, I worked closely with fellow students and faculty from UNE and the staff from Preble Street to learn about and assist with health issues facing individuals in our community which simulated my future in the interprofessional world of nursing. The rewarding experience educated me on the benefits of IPP, and I now recognize that IPP in healthcare is not simply collaborating with individuals of another specialty to make a positive difference medically, but it is also working together as team to explore and improve values and ethics while striving to make a positive impact that can benefit individuals in need within our community. After immersing myself in the exploration of social issues in Portland, I realized that there is a lack of education and awareness within marginalized populations, especially regarding physiological and psychological needs essential to promote self-care, safety, and survival. 

To address social issues within my community and deepen my understanding of IPP, I worked with Preble Street staff to focus our project on the needs of their consumers to promote their well-being. Most Preble Street consumers are homeless and spend hours outdoors each day. They struggle to stay warm during the winter months in Maine which can lead to a decline in all facets of health. Preble Street’s priority is to promote safety and self-sufficiency among its consumers, which is consistent with the goals of our project. Our coordinated effort was compatible with the ethical and moral tenets inherent in nursing, including promoting self-sufficiency and safety. Our goal was to help reverse the challenges of the homeless by providing them with accessible resources for a healthier lifestyle. The creation of blankets with helpful notes met a community need and a class objective. The results of this project fortified trust, improved communication, and provided necessary support between healthcare and marginalized populations by fulfilling a need by promoting mental, emotional, and physical well-being and safety. 

 To achieve success, our IPP group generated an action plan that included the submission of a grant proposal to UNE requesting funding to buy materials to make the blankets and notecards; an outline of assigned tasks and timeline for completion as well as a date for delivering them to Preble Street for distribution. In achieving our objective, we identified characteristics of effective communication to successfully develop and execute the plan to assist the consumers of Preble Street which met a class objective. The characteristics of effective communication and knowledge exchange that I used for this project included the establishment of appropriate methods for timely and efficient group communication; the use of repetition to ensure that the group understood the tasks at hand; an open mind and mutual understanding; and the use of clear and accurate information transmission. For example, project members were located in various locations, therefore, to ensure adequate communication throughout the project, we communicated over internet platforms, using email for immediate correspondence and ZOOM calls for our weekly meetings to surpass spatial barriers. I learned that communication within interprofessional groups is difficult. Still, with appropriate and effective communication, any goals can be attained which positively contributes to our community’s well-being. Since we knew these means of communication would be time-efficient and effective, the group ensured that everyone involved had access to these platforms when the project was initiated. With everyone juggling a hectic schedule, internet platforms are flexible and convenient because they do not require travel, so members were able to attend ZOOM meetings without difficulty. Following each session, we created and sent everyone a Google document reiterating all the critical points discussed and a description of upcoming goals and further plans to ensure effective communication to keep us on track to complete the project in a timely fashion effectively. Using these communication methods, we achieved another class goal of investigating how the role of technology and information management increases the effectiveness of health care. I learned how technology and information management support a successful collaboration between members of an IPP plan who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to engage with each other. It helped us provide the best possible outcome for the marginalized community we were servicing and deepened our understanding of IPP.

All of us involved with this project collaborated to provide the consumers of Preble Street compassion, empathy, trust, and loving-kindness by being present to support and assist with their basic needs and providing emotional and mental support, which helped cultivate a trusting relationship between the marginalized community and health care community. Thus, I met our class objective because it implemented the concepts of compassionate care as reflected in Watson’s Carative Factors. Along with the blankets, we included laminated notecards with positive messages to provide emotional support and encouragement to illicit perseverance among the population we were servicing. An example of the inspirational statements we included on the notecards were: “Believe in Yourself,” “You are Brave,” and “I Am Enough.” By including these simple messages, we encouraged the consumers of Preble Street to believe in themselves, practice kindness, and enhance their human dignity, which we hoped would reinforce self-love, build character, uplift self-esteem, and inspire a life’s purpose. Furthermore, to foster a higher level of connection, communication, and support, as another component of our IPP plan, we included a list of resources and outreach services, including shelters, food pantries, support groups, and helplines on each notecard. To best communicate these programs to those receiving the blankets, we ensured that the print on the cards was easy to read and provided phone numbers, addresses, and a brief description for each resource listed. We sought to establish an authentic caring relationship between the healthcare community and marginalized populations and a healing environment for those in need. In doing so, attaining these objectives deepened my understanding of IPP.

Overall, the classroom objectives I met were educational, and this rewarding experience allowed me to learn about and understand the benefits of Interprofessional Practice. I now realize that an interprofessional collaboration can help improve processes and deliver better outcomes by reducing inefficiencies to achieve a common goal and better my community. Although I did not utilize one of the class objectives, which was to build a professional social media presence in the future to educate the public about disparities vulnerable populations face, it would be a perfect format to enhance learning, catalog achievements, and new experiences for future projects.

Class Objectives for Spring Semester 2022 Passport to Integration (NSG-353-A): 

1. Explore the concepts of compassionate care as reflected in Watson’s Carative Factors in the planning and evaluation of care for individuals, families, and communities. (EBP, CJ, Professionalism)  
2. Explore the role of technology and information management in the efficacy of health care delivery. (Informatics)  
3. Identify the characteristics of effective communication and shared knowledge in the development of an effective interprofessional plan of care for diverse of individuals, families, and communities. (Leadership/Interprofessionalism)  
4. Build a professional social media presence to enhance learning, catalog achievements, and highlight new learning experiences. (Professionalism, Informatics) 
5. Identify the moral, ethical, and legal tenets inherent in the formation of professional nursing values including the role of self-care in safety for individuals, families, and communities. (Professionalism /Self-care)