The Mission of the Nurse Corp Scholarship Program

The Mission of the Nurse Corp Scholarship Program

Providing quality healthcare services is one of the responsibilities of healthcare providers globally. Healthcare facilities that provide quality care services play a significant role in improving quality of life and preventing diseases. One of the goals and objectives of Healthy People 2030 is to ensure that all individuals are in a position to receive quality health care services. However, various research organizations, including the United States Census Bureau, have confirmed that more than fifty million individuals are underserved and underprivileged. This paper discusses how I can contribute to caring for the underserved and underprivileged as a healthcare provider.

Caring for the Underserved and Underprivileged

Sending an application to join the Nurse Corps Scholarship Program is one of the steps that I will take to care for the underserved and underprivileged. It is a program that provides scholarships opportunities to nursing students. Those students are taken to various healthcare facilities with a shortage of healthcare providers (Mitchell et al., 2022). However, the students must provide the required evaluation details to measure their qualifications and eligibility. The lack of enough healthcare providers in a community is an indication that patients are underserved or underprivileged (Subijano et al., 2019). Individuals living in underserved communities do not have essential health needs such as health insurance coverage. Therefore, it becomes challenging to prevent and treat patients with chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes mellitus.

My primary contribution will involve educating the community members about the importance of health and how they can easily access care services in the available health care services. Various researchers have confirmed that many individuals are underserved and underprivileged because of health illiteracy and living in low-income areas (Loyola & Palileo-Villanueva, 2020). Since I have worked in a Federally Qualified Health Center for five years, I am sure I have enough experience teaching individuals about the importance of health. Therefore, I will teach them the importance of accessing healthcare facilities and how they can prevent themselves from diseases. I will also educate individuals on applying for health insurance covers. Health insurance will help many individuals, especially those from low-income families.

Another contribution will involve taking care of patients’ social and physical needs. The process will involve assessing patients’ social and physical needs and recommending them for appropriate referrals. Researchers have found that the majority of health care providers concentrate on medical practices of improving patient outcomes (Tong et al., 2018). However, they do not necessarily focus on nonmedical social and physical needs of improving health outcomes. Providing quality care services does not guarantee that patients will have good health outcomes. It is also important to consider individuals’ social needs, including reliable transportation and proper housing, to improve their health (Alderwick et al., 2018). Therefore, I will try to address individuals’ physical and social needs.  

Conclusion

Healthcare facilities that provide quality care services play a significant role in improving quality of life and preventing diseases. Joining the Nurse Corps Scholarship Program is one of the steps that I will take to care for the underserved and underprivileged. The program provides scholarships opportunities to nursing students. My primary contribution will involve educating the community members about the importance of health and how they can easily access care services in the available health care services. Another contribution will involve taking care of patients’ social and physical needs. 

References

Alderwick, H. A., Gottlieb, L. M., Fichtenberg, C. M., & Adler, N. E. (2018). Social prescribing in the US and England: emerging interventions to address patients’ social needs. American journal of preventive medicine, 54(5), 715-718. https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(18)30071-0/abstract

Loyola, A. B., & Palileo-Villanueva, L. M. (2020). A Role-Playing Activity for Medical Students Demonstrates Economic Factors Affecting Health in Underprivileged Communities. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 11, 637. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc7489936/

Mitchell, S. A., Charles, L. A., & Downing, N. (2022). Increasing access to forensic nursing services in rural and underserved areas of Texas. Journal of Forensic Nursing, 18(1), 21-29. https://journals.lww.com/forensicnursing/Fulltext/2022/03000/Increasing_Access_to_Forensic_Nursing_Services_in.4.aspx

Subijano, M. G., Alzaga, J. I., Bato, C. R., Dumlao, M., Estrella, R., Raymund III, R., & Pagatpatan Jr, C. (2019). Nurturing the Motivation of Medical Students in DLSMHSI towards Supporting the Underprivileged Communities. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Celso-Pagatpatan Nurturing_the_Motivation_of_Medical_Students_in_DLSMHSI_Towards_SupportingTowards-Supporting-the-Underprivileged-Communities.pdf

Tong, S. T., Liaw, W. R., Kashiri, P. L., Pecsok, J., Rozman, J., Bazemore, A. W., & Krist, A. H. (2018). Clinician experiences with screening for social needs in primary care. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 31(3), 351-363. https://www.jabfm.org/content/31/3/351.abstract