On September 16, 2008, I attended The Dispensary of Hope of Murfreesboro to fulfill my Service Learning Project requirement. This clinic is open Monday through Friday from 09:00 until 18:00, and is closed on the weekend. My preceptor was Miss Selina Chee, who was the pharmacist and manger of the facility. I arrived at the clinic at 09:00 and departed at 18:15. I was able to meet all of the objectives that were required for this assignment.

            The general status of the aggregates that visited this agency was that they were “the poorest of the poor”. All of the clients were without health insurance, receiving little to no income, and for the most part, were either receiving disability, or waiting for their disability claim to be approved. They were dependent upon either family members or close friends, and/or were receiving some type of government assistance, such as food stamps. Most of the clients were senior citizens.

            These clients were in desperate need of assistance in acquiring their prescribed medications. The Dispensary of Hope provides free generic medications to clients who meet certain income requirements (200% poverty level) and have NO health insurance. All the clients have to do is bring in proof of income and talk about their situation. None of the medications are guaranteed because this facility is a non-profit organization who acquires these medications through donations from doctors’ offices, hospitals, etc. Without this facility, these patients would not be able to take the mediations that they need. This is a major problem because all of these medications were important in maintaining these clients’ health. The majority of the medications needed were for blood pressure and diabetes regimens. These clients are at risk for a variety of problems, such as decreased nutrition, communicable diseases, and complications of their medical diagnoses, all of which are related to their income level.

            To promote the health and wellbeing of the service population, I sat in the waiting room with the clients and took all of their blood pressures. I also asked the clients questions about their diagnoses and which medications they were currently taking. By doing this, I was able to provide education to these clients about these issues. I was able to tell them why their medications were important, what their purpose was, and how they worked. I was also able to tell them things that they could do in order to improve their wellbeing and prevent further complications of their illnesses. I also made a point to talk to these clients about the Hope Clinic, which is a doctor’s office that provides primary care to the uninsured. I believed that this was important because I found that the majority of these patients did not have a primary care physician. I explained that it was much better to have a primary care physician because he/she would be familiar with their situation and would be able to treat them more efficiently. This would also help reduce the risk of misdiagnosis, prescribing the wrong medications, and not being properly treated for their illnesses.

            There are many challenges in meeting the needs of the aggregates within the community. This is mostly because there are many people within Rutherford County who are uninsured. The unfortunate part is that not all of them are within the 200% poverty level. And more importantly, this facility is not well known. A lot is being done to inform the community about the services that this facility provides, but unfortunately, they still will not be able to help everyone.

I thoroughly enjoyed working as a volunteer for The Dispensary of Hope. I believe that I was able to provide a lot of the clients with valuable information concerning their medications and health care needs. It almost made me feel like I was performing a duty, but not in a bad way. As a nurse, it is not only my job, but a professional obligation to service the individuals within my community whether it be working in a hospital, or volunteering at an agency such as this one.          It was very empowering for me to see how much I was able to help these individuals. I now realize how hard it is for someone to take care of themselves when they do not have any health insurance. I also have acquired a great respect for community health professionals. It is much harder to care for the aggregate than it is to care for an individual.