Reflection Paper On Reflection

Service-Learning Reflection Paper

Over the last semester, working with the Burnett County Health Department has allowed me to grow in my professional field as well as in my personal life. Allowing me with opportunities to work with the community and better their overall health status.

Understanding our project is important in learning the significance of our service here at Burnett County health department. Over the last few months, we have discovered many statistics that are beneficial to understanding the health status in Burnett County, WI. Prior to our work, previous students collected a survey regarding health issues in Burnett. This information was then relayed to our clinical group. After we placed the data into an excel spreadsheet

The largest contributor would be leadership skills. While enrolled in my nursing leadership systems classes, we have unraveled how to overcome conflicts in the healthcare field along with in the everyday setting. Putting my classroom knowledge into the field setting has made it easier for me to understand, overall increasing my comprehension of leadership skills. Another aspect that was enhanced by working on this project was the understanding of social status on the health of the community. Over the course of nursing school, we have learned that the less income a family has, the less resources that are able to be provided. I have never completely understood this concept until I witnessed it first hand in Burnett County, WI. This county is one of the poorest in the state of Wisconsin, decreasing their options for food, health, and housing. This puts a strain on their health, leaving their community at higher risk for increased health issues such as the three addressed in our

Working with another county has been challenging, requiring us to communicate through technology such as emails and phone calls. However, this was not the only issue. During our time with Burnett County, job openings were becoming available resulting in changes in our contact personnel and the healthy Burnett team. This caused confusion with our contract, leading to a miscommunication between the new leaders and my nursing team. With the knowledge of our leadership skills, we were able to overcome this communication barrier and determine future expectations of our group with the Healthy Burnett