Francis House Reflection

Last Friday, on my first day of clinical, I had the opportunity to serve at Francis House. Normally the organization is open to serve the homeless, but a handful of students and I came on a day they were closed for a work day. We were able to help Francis House paint the inside of the building. We did not get to work with the homeless, however it was really nice to know the people that work there on a regular basis. We see how they put their whole hearts into their work in order to make a difference in the homeless community. It is even more exciting that USF is the first school to be a part of this organization. We were able to learn about what Francis House does and see what difference we will make as nursing students. I did not know what Francis House did exactly until we took our lunch break with everyone. One of the women gave us some background

We will be able to serve them for the majority of our clinical days and we are excited to help! One of the main organizers in charge at Francis House explained to us how they have been wanting a medical partnership for a while now and how us coming as nursing students will open those doors for them. Most of the homeless do have access to medical care and/or most of them have not received a physical exam for years. So, this semester, we students get to implement our head to toe assessments on them, take their blood pressure, and provide them with health education. I am looking forward to getting to know each person that comes in and applying what we have learned in school thus far such as using therapeutic communication and being aware of any sort of mental illness so that I can interact with them properly. I am passionate about starting new things that make a difference and feel honored that my classmate and I get to provide our own