Immersion Project: RN-BSN Students Improving the Health and Well-Being of Migrant Workers and Their Families in Immokalee, Florida

J Natl Black Nurses Assoc. 2021 Dec;32(2):55-60.

Abstract

In Immokalee, Florida, farmworkers returning for the fall harvest season and students returning to school for in-person classes combined to create fertile ground for a new outbreak of COVID-19 (ciw-online, 2020). In response to this situation, the goal of this service-learning experience was to provide health screenings and health education to migrant workers and their families in Immokalee, a rural medically underserved community. In the first immersion, RN-BSN students provided educational programs in three churches, at Boys & Girls Club and Pace Center for Girls, reaching 984 migrant workers and their families. In the second immersion, students served 820 migrant workers and their families. Interviews were conducted on 50 students and transcribed. Twenty-five (25) were then selected for content analysis with some key statements presented as results. The students improved their ability to provide culturally competent care to migrant workers.

Keywords: Immokalee; immersion; migrant workers; service learning.

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Florida
  • Humans
  • Immersion
  • Male
  • Students
  • Transients and Migrants*