UAB School of Nursing was back in Greensboro this summer, as part of a clinical rotation for a nursing course in Community and Public Health Nursing. The course is required for all baccalaureate nursing students at UAB, and while most of the students in this semester’s class of 170+ students will do their clinical rotations at various sites in and around the Birmingham area, 20 students volunteered for the Hale County clinical rotation. UAB students have been coming to Hale County for a number of years now.
The course teaches students about community health issues from a variety of different perspectives other than big city hospital based care. A full day is spent, either on a Tuesday or Thursday for a total of five weeks, in and around Greensboro. UAB partners with various local agencies including Project Horseshoe Farm, Hale County Home Health, Hale County Hospital, Hale County EMS/EMA, and Auburn Rural Studios and the Safe House Black History Museum.
As part of the rural experience, students eat lunch at various local restaurants, and explore Main Street and surrounding neighborhoods (including the historic Greensboro Cemetery). They tour a local catfish farm to learn about the health dangers and risks of farming and specifically catfish farming, tour The Safe House, A Back History Museum to learn about the culture and history of the rural black belt south, and tour Newbern and Auburn Rural Studios to learn about housing opportunities.
All the activities are designed to teach students how to evaluation a local community and determine specific aspects of health. It is an immersive experience in rural life and rural healthcare concerns. Students will return in the fall semester to repeat these experiences.
