Vulnerable Populations
Details
Location:
Utah County
Clinical Experiences:
Children's Justice Center, Dan Peterson School, Heritage School, Mountainlands Community Clinic, Utah County Jail, Utah County Walk-In Volunteer Clinic, Utah State Prison, Utah Children's Justice Symposium, UVRMC Diabetes Management Clinic, UVH Emergency Department, **clinicals 2-3 days per week (8-10 hrs/day)
About the Program
At-Risk populations are found in all societies, including our own Utah County community. At-Risk populations are groups of individuals that are more vulnerable to infectious diseases, have special needs regarding health care and/or are at a high risk for health disparity. Factors that place individuals at high-risk include: age; economic hardship; social, geographical, or cultural separation; limited language skills; limited health care access due to discrimination; and increased susceptibility to injury or death as a result of physical, cognitive, or sensory disability or disease vulnerability
Reflection
“After my experiences with the “at-risk” population, I recognize that my personal, professional, and spiritual attitudes have shifted. I have gained a better understanding of the people I had the blessing of caring for and hope to relay that understanding and compassion into my future professional career.
Throughout my experience of caring for patients in the “at-risk” population, I made a conscious effort to pray for guidance everyday while caring for the patients. I prayed for the ability to see God’s children as he sees them and to not simply see them as a combination of the mistakes they had made but as a result of difficult circumstances and most importantly, as a child of God. With these changes in attitude, I hope to implement my new perspectives in my future nursing career. I understand how difficult it is to maintain a positive perspective when you work with the “at-risk” population every day. However, I believe maintaining an attitude of kindness and compassion is worth battling for every day.”
A student in a local clinical experience found that one cannot take for granted that every patient experiences the same life events. Her story of working with a little boy who never had a birthday cake due to his family always “running” to another country emphasizes her learning that “…I need to be culturally sensitive with every patient I have. I really have no idea what my patient has been through in their lifetime and I need to be aware that I don’t know everything. I need to always be teachable about other cultures and realize that I don’t know everything no matter how much I am exposed to the culture.”
