ORCID
0000-0003-2282-6957
Abstract
Background: Meaningful learning experiences with clients in poverty may help nursing students change their perceptions towards those experiencing poverty and, thus, provide unbiased, nonjudgmental care when they become nurses.
Purpose: The purpose of this research was to understand what learning activities and experiences nursing students found meaningful and led to a change in prior perceptions of people in poverty.
Methods: Guided by Mezirow’s Theory of Transformative Learning, accelerated BSN students enrolled in a mental health nursing course (n = 14) were assigned reflective journals throughout the semester on their assigned clinical experiences, which were analyzed for emergent themes.
Results: Three themes emerged showing that students overwhelmingly found the new clinical site meaningful and demonstrated transformation through this experience.
Conclusion: The community-engaged learning experience described demonstrates a meaningful clinical experience that helped future nurses transform their perspectives while building their professional identity.
Included in
Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Commons, Public Health and Community Nursing Commons
