Disaster Relief Volunteer Assignment
Wilmington and a large portion of N.C. and S.C. recently experienced an unprecedented disaster when Hurricane Florence made landfall on Sept. 14, 2018 as a category 1 storm. The time leading up to the arrival of the storm provided adequate time for evacuation but also exposed everyone to the inundation of a constant barrage of media and forecasts. There has been extensive damage and a great loss of homes and personal belongings, lifestyle, security, financial stability, power loss, food and water shortages, school time, and many other disturbances. During the time that classes were cancelled, there was great uncertainty and stress as to how we would recoup the 4 weeks of our semester. Also during this time, many individuals donated their time and efforts to the recovery of our community. I would like you to take a little time to reflect on your experience and how this relates to your chosen profession and how disaster relief contributes to your community and the alleviation of human suffering.
1. Read the three articles provided. While the one addresses disaster management from a mental health perspective, it has excellent information for both those receiving the relief and those providing it.
2. If you have not already completed a minimum of 6 hours volunteer time, refer to the previously provided resources for current volunteer services needed. In light of Hurricane Michael which just struck Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, there may be opportunities there as well. Many folks in Pender County (Burgaw, Wallace, Topsail Island) are still without power and have significant damage and families could use assistance.
3. Complete a Critical Reflective Journal using the prompts below and submit via email to your primary clinical instructor and cc Mrs. White. Journals should be 2-4 pages in length. This will count (volunteer time and journal) as one clinical make-up day.
Reflection Prompts
1. When you first reviewed this assignment what did you hope to learn or what skills did you hope to gain by completing this project? How does this project connect to your coursework and the goals of this course?
2. Describe what you did to provide disaster relief – when and where.
3. Have you ever participated in disaster relief before? If so, what and when.
4. What have you observed or experienced so far that took you by surprise or shocked you? What were you not prepared for?
5. How do you feel that you made a difference? How does this make you feel? Does this experience have any impact on what you take for granted in life?
6. You may have worked with people that you did not know before this event – how did teamwork impact the delivery of resources? Did you feel a sense of team collaboration and team shared purpose while participating in this endeavor? How did working as a team make you feel? What impact has this project had on the community, the Wilmington area, or other areas outside of Wilmington?
7. Based on your experience, would you want to volunteer time in future disasters? Why or why not? How has this experience impacted your academic development and learning? How do you think this experience will impact your future practice as a nurse? How do you think that participation in disaster relief impacts the discipline of nursing and health care as a whole?
ETEAL Supported Experience Participation Notice
This applied learning experience is part of ETEAL—Experiencing Transformational Education through Applied Learning. One or more assignments/reflections in this course have been chosen for the purpose of assessing ETEAL’s impact. The assignment/reflection will be graded by your instructor as explained in your syllabus. Any separate scoring of the assignment/reflection for the purposes of ETEAL assessment WILL NOT affect your grade in the course, or any other course work at UNCW. Through your participation, you will help the university to identify potential ways to improve the quality of applied learning experiences and enhance student learning. All work submitted will remain confidential and we will remove all identifying information before your work is read and scored. Anonymous excerpts from your reflections may be used for research and documentation purposes. In the process of this experience, photos may be taken of your applied learning activities and may be used for promotions, reporting, or educational purposes. If you do not wish to appear in any photos or would not like your image used in this way, please notify your instructor.
