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On Wednesday October 7, 2015, Saint Xavier University’s School of Nursing hosted an event in the Butler Reception Room to raise awareness about those living under the poverty line.
Students from certain classes in the school were required to attend this event to give them a better understanding of the people they may meet in the work force, and even people they meet in their lives today.
In an interview with staff and faculty from the School of Nursing, information and insight was shared about the event. Dr. Peg Gallagher, Brian Mueller, and Dr. Mary Haras, sat down to discuss the experience of the event, its importance, and the ideas and feelings they hoped students would walk away with after completing the simulations.
The event was run around a simulation which was developed by the Missouri Association for Community Action (MACA). In this simulation, students received individual scenarios in which they were living on a low-income basis and they had to survive from month to month. Each ‘month’ lasted for 15 minutes and there were a series of four months.
During these months, students had a set amount of money they needed to use to survive which had to be spent on a place to stay during the nights, food, clothing, transportation, their children, and other aspects of everyday living. If students did not have enough money to provide these things for themselves and their families, they had to do without for that time being.
This simulation allowed students to understand what it might be like for people living in such situations. At the end of the simulation, students were asked to stay for a debriefing where they talked about and discussed their experiences in the poverty simulation.
Even though the poverty simulation would never be able to truly exemplify the experience of a person or family living a low-income lifestyle, students had this opportunity to get an understanding of what these people may go through.
The faculty from the School of Nursing have hopes that students will remember this experience so that they can apply it to their jobs in the future. Gallagher explains how this simulation relates to the nursing students and why it is especially important for them to be exposed to these issues.
“What can they do as a nurse in this role? Well, they can be very thorough in their assessment if they’re talking to their patient, and their patient says ‘well, I’m not sure I have the money for that.’ Then [they should ask] a few more questions and say, talk to me about [your situation]. Maybe they’re not going to take their meds or cut them all in half because they don’t have the money for that. As nurses, we need to do a very thorough assessment plus know the resources in the community […] we need to know where to send them or how to access resources for them [if they are experiencing these issues],” said Gallagher.
Gallgher, Haras, and Mueller all believed that this simulation was important in the way that students could take away important views about the world in which we live. Even though people are living perhaps seemingly normal lives, they could be struggling in other areas, not only those who may be living in poverty, but those living through other obstacles faced in life.
One of the main things to be taken away from this simulation was the understanding that everyone is different and that everyone comes from very different backgrounds. It also was important to realize that everyone has the opportunity to lend a helping hand to those in need.
Haras explains that nursing students should understand the importance of learning about different issues in other peoples’ lives so that they can effectively aid them in any way possible.
“It’s really to give them an awareness that people are different and face a lot of different things and because of [the understanding of] those differences, that will affect the decisions that [our students] make [in the workforce],” said Haras.
Any student can help those in need and students at SXU have many opportunities to give back to their community. It is benificial for students to attend such events and programs. Even if students are not nursing majors, they can still participate in these events.
Community involvement and awareness will benefit every student at SXU, not just those in the nursing program. A few events offered are the STAT Brown Bag Project, where students make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for those in need, and the Bread Truck, where students travel to the Back of the Yards neighborhood to distribute sandwiches, hot chocolate, and various snacks to the hungry.
Mueller explains that students are likely to carry this experience with them throughout their careers. This is one of the most beneficial aspects of the program.
“After the simulation ends, students are going to take the experience with them and they might be more likely to volunteer or be more mindful in their clinical. They may be able to see some signs that indicate what a person might be going through which will help them offer some community resources,” said Mueller.
Julie Gardner
Senior News Editor
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