KSU clinic teaches students, treats community

By Laura Diamond

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Linette Urbina led the patient into the exam room and reviewed his medical history. She checked his pulse and blood pressure and discussed what was bothering him on a recent morning.

Similar exchanges take place daily in hospitals and clinics. What sets this one apart is that Urbina is a senior in the nursing program at Kennesaw State University. The intake she conducted was done at the newly expanded KSU Community Health Clinic at MUST Ministries, a community-based, nurse managed clinic serving the uninsured and under-insured in Cobb County.

"It's one thing to practice in class or read something in your textbook, but it's another thing to be out in the real world and learning what type of help your community needs," Urbina said. "I'm learning to trust what I know and what I've been taught. But it's a mental tug of war here because you never know what is going to happen and what people will need."

The university and faith-based nonprofit that helps the homeless and poor have collaborated for more than 15 years to help meet the community's physical and mental health needs, said Donna Chambers, the clinic nurse manager and a nursing professor. The clinic provides office visits, patient referrals, phone consultations and prescription refills.

Early services were provided in a small, single-wide trailer that offered little privacy, she said.  Still, the staff provided more than 2,500 patient contacts there last year.

University officials expect to serve twice as many in the new clinic, which opened last month at MUST Ministries' headquarters on Cobb Parkway in Marietta. The building is owned by the nonprofit, but the university will pay rent to offset security, utility and other basic expenses, said Richard Sowell, dean of KSU’s WellStar College of Health and Human Services.

Sowell said the clinic has been completely integrated into the college's academic programs. As the university's nursing programs have grown, so have others across Georgia making it difficult for many college leaders to find clinical sites for students' academic instruction. KSU, for example, has sent some of its students to Villa Rica to gain clinical lessons.

"We are giving students a real-life laboratory," said Sowell, explaining that undergraduate and graduate students work at the clinic as part of their degree requirements. "This is primarily a site for education."

The clinic includes a formal waiting area, six exam rooms, two counseling rooms and even a diabetic education center, Chambers said. Signs are in English and Spanish.

"The hope is that all our of students will do rotations through the clinic," Chambers said. "This is a very unique opportunity for them and for us."

Jennifer Alexander, a second-year graduate student in the social work program, consulted on a patient who was determined to be suicidal and sent to a hospital. She has learned how to document and assess a patient with mental health concerns. She's started planning different support groups for the clinic's clients.

Amy Lasher, a first-year graduate student in the social work program, is developing a resource book and works with the homeless shelter to find support services for clients. The work, she said, can be overwhelming.

"This is a true grounds-up operation where you really have the chance to help develop programs and work closely with the community," Lasher said. "You're moving really fast from one thing to the next, but it's amazing. There's so much to know and you realize just how long of a learning process we all have."