Hendrika J. Maltby, PhD, RN, FRCNA, Department of Nursing, University of Vermont, Main Street, Burlington, VT 05405, 802-656-8305, Hendrika.Maltby@uvm.edu

This paper will describe a community-campus partnership for health established through the collaborative effort of faculty, students, and the community. Beginning with nursing placements and health fairs based on issues of concern to the community agency, the partnership has expanded to include nursing, social work, physical therapy, and medical students in a shared learning experience through the presentation of health fairs in collaboration with four different agencies in Burlington, Vermont. One nursing goal is to produce professionals who are knowledgeable about, and sensitive to, the multi-faceted health needs of people in communities, an essential competency in public health nursing. Reflection on the process, relationships, and results revealed that students learned about each other’s professional roles, how to work together as an interdisciplinary team, and to provide health education in a manner appropriate to a particular group in the community. For example, students placed at an alternative high school presented their health fair as a series of ‘survivor’ style challenges. Combining service-learning with community-campus partnerships and an interdisciplinary focus enables nursing students to become more responsive to community needs and to learn to work collaboratively toward creating healthier communities thus building skills required for public health nursing.

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