Makenzie Helsel

NUR 330-2W1

April 21, 2021

Population & Community Health: Practicum Reflection

The practicum experience for the Population and Community Health course focused on

healthcare disparities for public health in diverse populations. During the practicum for this

course, I followed a school nurse, Barb Cilento, at Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes,

Delaware. Throughout this experience I collected data regarding identifiable healthcare needs

within the student population to focus on goals and interventions to promote optimal care. I

discussed disparities with regards to racial inequality, poverty, food insecurities, and lack of

access to healthcare. In addition, this practicum occurred during the peak of COVID which

meant I was able to be a part of disease promotion and prevention. This occurred through

education, as well as preventative techniques (handwashing, social distancing, contact tracing,

etc.). The collected research was utilized to complete my health disparities paper.

One of the main reasons as to why I am so grateful for this practicum experience was

purely meeting Barb. I was in awe of her professional background. She has over 42 years of

nursing experience working in level one trauma centers as well as being the Clinical Nurse

Specialist in a few different hospitals. The teamwork and communication that she exuded

allowed me to feel genuinely apart of the Cape Henlopen team. Nearly every day she would

walk me around the school to interact with the other staff which also helped me become

acquainted with many students. By the end of my practicum, I was familiar with numerous staff
members and knew names of many of the students, as they knew mine as well. The utilization of

interprofessional collaboration and communication meets the course PGC’s.

During this practicum experience, the COVID pandemic was at a peak which was

obviously impacting the school district. It seemed as though every clinical day we were dealing

with some sort of COVID related issue. It was interesting to see just how responsible Barb was

for majority of the COVID related topics within the school. She was responsible for keeping

track of all students, parents, and staff members who tested positive, remaining in contact with

the Delaware Department of Public Health (DPH), validating student/staff quarantine and

allowed return date, and contact tracing for any possible exposures. Education surrounding

infection prevention was also an important part of the day. It was great to see that students were

compliant in temperature checks, mask mandates, handwashing techniques, and social

distancing.

When considering how this practicum experience could impact my current practice, I

believe it has helped to prepare me for my future career goals. Due to this practicum experience,

I learned a great deal of information about what it means to be a public health nurse. I have

discovered how important it is to continue to educate, stive for therapeutic communication,

advocate for your population, and promoting health and wellbeing of the community. This has

widened my perspective on the view of community nursing and why public health nurses are so

important. Through the use of this practicum experience, the knowledge I acquired assisted me

in meeting the course PGC’s. Competencies that I developed during this experience includes

advanced nursing knowledge and professional growth, improved leadership skills, information

literacy and evidence-based practice, advocacy, interprofessional communication, and health

promotion.