Running head: SERVICE LEARNING 1

Service Learning Proposal

Elise Chirco
Ferris State University

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Abstract
I am a nursing student that has been assigned to do a service learning project. For this
project we are required to complete thirty hours of volunteer time in a health care environment. I
decided, along with ten fellow nursing students, to take this opportunity to volunteer in a less
fortunate country. We decided to take a trip to Per and volunteer our time for a medical project
and promote health and wellness among this foreign community.
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Service Learning Proposal
I am proposing to do my service learning education and volunteer time in Per. A group
of eleven Ferris State nursing students has gathered to go on this trip. We have chosen to take
part in a medical project which focuses on helping the less fortunate of Per.
Agency
The medical project planned to participate in, is through the internationally accredited
agency Mximo Nivel (About Mximo Nivel, 2014). This company is out of Cusco, Per and
their contact information is as seen below.
Address:
Avenida El Sol 612
Cusco, Per
Telephone:
+51-84-58-1800 or +51-84-25-7200
E-mail: international@maximonivel.com

Mximo Nivel has been around for eleven years and is active in three countries (About Mximo
Nivel, 2014). This agency is known for having volunteers in not only Per, but has also spread
its generosity to Costs Rica and Guatemala (About Mximo Nivel, 2014). Mximo Nivel has
also partnered up with a few educational facilities allowing college credits to be earned by
participating in one of their accredited projects (About Mximo Nivel, 2014).
Volunteer Role
The role that we will be taking as volunteers is very broad and depends on where we, as a
group, end up being stationed. According to the e-mail that was received from one of the
representative of Mximo Nivel, our group of nursing student travelers could either be placed to

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volunteer in a clinic or with the Mximo Nivel para los Andes program (S. Goessens, personal
communications, July 25, 2014) . Each site consists of different duties and has different
expectations to be completed during our time there. We could either be working with the elderly
population, the disabled population, the orphaned population, or the poor population
(Volunteering Medical/Healthcare Projects, for 2014). This part is truly undetermined at this
time.
Objective
I am hoping to learn so much out of being a part of this mission trip. Not only will I be
getting exposure to another culture and way of life, but I will also be learning so much. I feel
like I will learn a lot about myself as a person and as a professional as well as about this foreign
way of life. I hope to learn about not only their lifestyle, but also their medical system. I hope
that my experiences as medical professional in Grand Rapids and as a medical student will also
help me to share and teach those in Per. This trip, I feel, will be much more to me than just
volunteer hours to meet a graduation requirement. It may just be me, but I feel like this
experience will be life changing. I feel that my knowledge and time will benefit the community
in so many ways yet one patient at a time. Not only will we as a group be providing free health
care to the community but I presume we will also have the opportunity to promote health and
cleanliness. I also feel that I will be helping the communities in Per by possibly detecting signs
of a possible health issue and administering vaccines.
Activities
I feel that the activities I will be doing to meet my objectives are vast. According to the
Mximo Nivel website, unlicensed students will perform more simple tasks, again it truly
depends on which medical project we are assigned to (2014). If we end up being assigned to a
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nursing home we could be doing things as simple as assisting the clients with their activities of
daily living, such as eating, bathing and dressing (Volunteering for Medical/Healthcare Projects,
2014).. Even just being there for the client to talk to I feel will be an important role mentioned
on the Mximo Nivel website (Volunteering for Medical/Healthcare Projects, 2014). The sorting
and distribution of medications is also a possibility on this mission trip (Volunteering for
Medical/Healthcare Projects, 2014)..
If we get placed at a clinic, it sounds like we would be mostly working in triage as
mentioned in the e-mail (S. Goessens, personal communications, July 25, 2014). In triage, it
would be our duty to take the clients vital measurements (S. Goessens, personal communications,
July 25, 2014). Vital measurements consist of height, weight, blood pressure, heart rate and
temperature. These duties would include more if our group gets assigned to a hospital ward. At
this type of facility, we could be preparing the rooms for the next patient.
Lastly if our group of student nurses were to get assigned to the orphanage project, which
is what I am hoping for, we would be working with 80-100 orphaned Pervian children. We
would be working with bilingual physician and providing well child checkups.
Evaluation
I will plan to evaluate my learning by completing a daily journal. With my journal I will
reflected on my day and set goals to be reached the following day. I will also try to mention how
many clients I had cared for each day and possibly any discoveries I made or lives I touched. I
feel that this will be a good tool at the end of my trip to evaluate the success of my trip. It will
show daily if I have met my goals as well as if I have learned anything that day.

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References
About Mximo Nivel. (2014). About Us. Retrieved July 10, 2014, from
http://maximonivel.com/about-us
Volunteering for Medical/Healthcare Projects. (2014). Volunteering & Study Abroad.

Retrieved July 11, 2014, from http://maximonivel.com/volunteers/medical-healthcare