SLU/CFNA Partnership
/St. Louis School of Nursing students are becoming more and more engaged with CFNA! Indeed, a key partnership with students from the SLU Trudy Busch School of Nursing has become an integral part of CFNA’s monthly health and wellness clinic. Since the partnership began in 2021, CFNA has served as a clinical site for nursing students, and was borne out of a mutual desire to serve the needs of the local community, especially New Americans.
Students and Patients with Danielle Moore (standing)
The clinical support provided by SLU students focuses primarily on health assessments which includes blood sugar screening, blood pressure readings, and vision. Additionally, students provide health education regarding especially, exercise, diet, and dental hygiene.
“CFNA is a unique clinical site for students that is much different than a hospital setting” says clinical instructor, Danielle Moore, RN, APRN. “At CFNA, students are given a real-world opportunity to be innovative and learn how to meet a patient’s specific needs in a less structured setting”.
Not only do students provide technical expertise, but they also embody CFNA’s aim to build meaningful relationships with friends. Individual health is so intertwined with each person’s story: where they have come from and where they are going. In other words, students are not only learning about a New American patient’s health needs. They are also learning about who they are as people. This reflects the SLU commitment, which is to care for CNFA’s New American friends in body, mind, and spirit!
A next step in this team approach engages SLU Nursing faculty and students in client fellowship to include linkages with health care options in the greater St. Louis area. Truly, the support received from SLU School of Nursing has been a tremendous blessing for CFNA and the New Americans we serve!
Interested in serving in something larger than yourself and make a difference? Contact Heather McDermott (hmcdermott@cfna-stl.org). If you are interested in making a donation to this ministry, you may do so at www.cfna-stl.org/donate, or by mailing a check to: CFNA, 4019 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63118.
By Paige Bernau, BSN, RN
CFNA Health & Wellness Screening Facilitator
with Danielle Moore, MSN, APRN
SLU School of Nursing
