Bringing health care to rural South Georgia, where nurses and medical resources are often in short supply, can take a bit of creativity. Fortunately, the nursing faculty at South Georgia College in Douglas has imagination to spare.
"We wanted to offer a service-learning opportunity to our nursing students and provide more preventive health care to the community, so we wrote a grant for a bus," said Linda Osban, chair of the division of nursing, which has a capacity enrollment of 160 associate degree students.
With a $509,000 grant from the University System of Georgia in 1995, the department bought a 66-foot school bus and customized it with two exam rooms, a lab area, a VCR for patient education and a lot of medical equipment. The Nightingale mobile clinic has been on the road ever since. In 2002-03, the bus got a boost from a Georgia Department of Labor grant for $30,000.
The Nightingale becomes a health clinic in parking lots at churches, housing projects, schools, industries and, once, outside a pharmacy, to offer free screening over 18 South Georgia counties, including Ware, Coffee and Bacon. "We capture a pretty large area and we'll be going to Waycross in a couple of weeks," Osban said.
Sometimes they hold a cardiac risk clinic, with students taking health
information and performing hemoglobin and blood sugar tests on patients.
By entering the information into an onboard computer, students can predict
a patient's risk of a heart attack and discuss preventive measures. Other
times, the students check and educate patients about cholesterol.
They've also held women's health clinics, with someone in the community setting up appointments for Pap smears and breast exams.
"We know we're providing a real community service because we're seeing patients who wouldn't normally go to a physician or a hospital for a variety of reasons," said Mary Benek, CNM, MN, an instructor at South Georgia. "We've found ruptured breast implants, patients with hypertension and fibroid tumors in the uterus. We're able to refer them for medical care."
In a 13-county screening of middle-school students, they were able to identify children with high blood pressure, diabetes and weight problems and talk to them about eating the right kinds of foods.
Because of the bus, small towns receive better health care and students get a wider scope of training.
"The mobile clinic is a totally different environment than the acute care settings where they normally do their clinical work," Benek said. "It gives them a chance to practice preventive intervention and patient education skills."
"The students get to work very closely with two faculty nurses and with all kinds of patients," Osban said. "They have to be prepared to answer almost any question. It's a wonderful opportunity for our students to teach and share what they know."
The nursing staff knows that the need for preventive health care is great, but funding is limited. A testing kit and supplies for a cardiovascular clinic cost about $15 per patient.
"In the past we've collaborated with hospitals and health departments, but we're always looking for additional money and partners," Osban said. "Right now we can only send the bus out about four or five times a semester. It's not nearly enough."