NACU clinic is run by public health nurses using a model that brings the care into the neighborhoods of the underserved. We bring the care to them, in their environments, so access to healthcare is easier, more affordable and can help them with the social issues that are bringing them down. NACU provides essential health care to local individuals who cannot afford or access mainstream avenues of medical care. Delivering vital care through the clinic sites in northern Kentucky, NACU seeks to diminish a substantial disparity in health between those with ample resources and those without. The program is led by deeply committed NKU nursing faculty and community partners. Compassionate, respectful care is the core of service provision whether inpatient care by registered nurses and nurse practitioners providing health exams, blood pressure and glucose screening or by providing educational programs on health issues to high-risk populations.
Our public health nurses have been busy linking the underserved to appropriate healthcare services, providing free Covid-19 screening and referral for treatment, and providing enormous amounts of education on prevention measures for this pandemic. We even hand out masks that have been donated by local businesses and other social groups, to help the underserved stay healthy. Any need the underserve have, the public health nurses will go to the ends of the earth to find a solution. Since the center is not permitted to provide a hot meal, we set up a table in the church parking lot to hand out packed meals in brown bags so those needing food will get something.
NACU nurses are taking this pandemic as a head-on challenge to provide education, screening, referral and compassion for those that have needs beyond our comprehension. All while having nursing students learn the importance of caring for the underserved and their complex social issues. The students are seeing firsthand what this pandemic is doing to those that had minimal support and resources to start with. It is a great lesson for them and will make them better nurses in the future. They are studying public health nursing in didactic and clinical format this semester and wanted to be involved with collecting resources to help the underserved. The NKU Student Nurses Association was involved with a donation drive collecting personal care items to be given out during this hard time. These are lessons that you cannot cover in a lecture or learn through a case study. It has been a proud sight to see from a career public health nurse for almost three decades. It makes me proud!
If you would like to learn more about this academic-community program, please visit nku.edu/nacu.
