“Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve” - nowhere is BYU’s motto more applicable than in the College of Nursing. To say that BYU nursing students work hard to learn their craft is a gross understatement; with menacing pharmacology courses, tsunamis of required clinical hours, and a punishing NCLEX exam, nursing students certainly aren’t breezing through the program. But why so much rigor? Simple: So that BYU’s students emerge from their education ready and eager to give the highest quality service possible. BYU nursing students and alums aren’t sitting around. They’re out there working on projects that save the world one patient at a time.
During the recent BYU College of Nursing Symposium, students got a peek at several such projects by BYU nurses to better the world at home and abroad. One particular session featured three Family Nurse Practitioner students in the Master of Nursing program, Derick Sosa, Victoria Cuello, and Alyssa Fallon. They exhibited the projects they were working on in short, engaging “Pechakucha Presentations.”
Derrick and Victoria focused their work on diabetes prevention in underserved communities. Derick spoke about the unique work he did as part of his graduate project in Ibarra, Ecuador, a town just north of Quito. BYU works with a local prosthetic clinic, and many of its amputee patients lose limbs due to diabetes complications. Why? Education in Ibarra is limited; it’s estimated that about 25% of Ibarra residents struggle to read and write. That lack of access to education extends to a general health illiteracy among residents. Many people don’t understand how to properly protect their bodies against illness, and this has contributed to a significant part of the population developing diabetes.
Taking this into consideration, Derick and his team sought to spread awareness about diabetes prevention. Drawing from the Vygotsky Social Cultural Theory of Learning, the idea that people learn better when the material is connected to their culture, the team decided to create a video linking diabetes information to the local culture in Ibarra. Through colorful animations, they explained diabetes causes and symptoms, as well as how to prevent it. The highlight was the “Eat This, not That” section, which categorized typical Ecuadoran foods based on their nutrition, helping locals better understand what they eat on a day-to-day basis.
Derick said that, though it needs refinement, the video was a success in many ways. Speaking about the importance of teaching people in a way that they can connect with, he cited 2 Nephi, “For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding” (2 Ne 31:3).
Victoria, originally from Argentina, carried out her project in conjunction with Vista Community Clinic, a clinic from her childhood. She also worked on diabetes prevention, focusing her project on the importance of diabetes screening. In her words, “Screening is the best tool we have” in prevention. VCC, a volunteer clinic, serves a lower-income, largely Hispanic population that has a higher risk of diabetes. Victoria worked with her team to provide patients with free diabetes screenings.
Of the 274 patients tested, 44 were marked diabetic, and another 73 as pre-diabetic. Had they not been screened, they would likely still be going without treatment. Despite some flaws, such as a lack of funding and staff, Victoria was pleased with the work done. She remarked on how she could picture the Savior in that setting: “I knew that He would be out there doing the same thing, trying to find the One.”
The last student to present, Alyssa Fallon, is working on a project closer to home. The fact that she was just a few days from delivering her first child didn’t stop her from sharing her inspirational program: “BYU Move!” For college students, getting physical exercise can be a challenge. Alyssa stated several reasons, including knowledge gaps - ¼ of students are actually aware of exercise guidelines - as well as a lack of time, cost of gym memberships, and more. BYU Move! seeks to help students overcome these barriers.
Students referred to the program were given a mentor, and a flexible exercise schedule was made to help them stay on task over the course of the semester. At the program’s end, five out of six students reported meeting their fitness goals, and all of them expressed a desire to continue the program in coming semesters. Alyssa is optimistic about the program’s impact and hopes to expand it by helping future participants track their progress more effectively and recruiting more mentors.
Decades ago, the late President Spencer W. Kimball uttered these words: “BYU students, with their abilities and training, are to be leaders—not just in the Church but also in the world, contributing to society and influencing all sectors of life with their examples and commitment to high standards and principles."
Making these words a reality is a grand responsibility, and it’s happening in real-time at the College of Nursing as undergrads, graduate students, and alums give service across the world. To learn more about these projects and others, click here.