On Monday, November 6, Laura Lawrence, BSN, RN, student health nurse; Meredith Douds, BSN, RN, instructor; and students who attended the Costa Rica Mission Trip gave a presentation about their October 2017 experience.
According to Laura, "The students really dove into the experience, seeing more than 300 people over four days – I’m very proud of our Mount Carmel presence." Student perspectives included:
“The experience changed me by showing me a different world and reinforcing for me why I want to become a nurse – to care for people no matter what their economic situation, they should all be treated the same,” recalls sophomore Megan Cleveland.
“Everything I’ve been learning in my classes really came together for me while we were doing the head-to-toe assessments for the children,” says sophomore Katy Karper. “When a teenager who was ashamed and embarrassed to admit he was using cocaine expressed gratitude that we didn’t judge him but treated him well by coming back the next day with gifts of fruit, we were so touched that we all cried – that was a real eye-opener.”
“It was wonderful to see the pride in community among the people of San Jose,” says junior Brittany Stevens. “And, the gratitude they expressed was so humbling – they had no sense of entitlement. It was also very rewarding as future nurses to see some people who had never seen a medical professional before. Also, it was fun to see how the children were excited and enthusiastic about the stuffed animals and coloring books we brought.”
