Abstract
Introduction: Service-learning (SL) integrates purposeful and immersive community-based experiences into the curriculum while addressing health disparities.1,2 Growing evidence from North America shows that academic service-learning nursing partnerships can lead to impactful change.3 Yet, the need to integrate SL into the curriculum must be informed by country-specific, regional evidence.
Purpose: To train in and promote integration of SL by nurse and midwife educators in alignment with the Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery4 for developing clinically competent and culturally-sensitive practitioners equipped to provide population-targeted services.
Objective: Identify evidence from the Americas region on service-learning integration and best teaching practices.
Methodology: An integrative literature review in PubMed, CINAHL, and Scopus yielded 21 articles on SL best practices, implementation, and sustainability strategies. Synthesized evidence was used to develop a tailored virtual training.
Results: Evidence was mostly experiential (57%), followed by descriptive/qualitative/mixed methods studies (38%). International service-learning (ISL) or “Study Abroad” was most frequently (62%) used across undergraduate nursing and midwifery programs. The majority of ISL initiatives originated from the US, with three from Canada, Jamaica, and Haiti. Host ISL countries included the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala, Bahamas, and Trinidad. Host settings were community-based units (59%) and free-standing clinics (33%). In most cases, there was no agreement (informal ISL, 85%) and no prior community assessment (70%). Synergy in training, empowerment, education improvement, access to shared resources, and application of knowledge into practice were the most frequently reported outcomes.5,6,7 Planning, implementing and evaluating an ISL initiative required selection of an appropriate model, regular evaluation regularly, and adopting a quality improvement approach.
Conclusion: Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, SL is not integrated into nursing and midwifery educational programs. It is encountered as “community service” and largely achieved through extracurricular activities. Contextualizing ISL enriches education, promotes cultural humility, and equips nursing and midwifery graduates to become catalysts for change.
Notes
References:
1. Sabo, S., de Zapien, J., Teufel-Shone, N., Rosales, C., Bergsma, L., & Taren, D. (2015). Service learning: A vehicle for building health equity and eliminating health disparities. American Journal of Public Health. 105(1): S38-43. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302364?journalCode=ajph
2. Altaker, K.L. (2024). Service learning in an evidence-based practice course. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 19(3): e467-e470. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2024.02.001
3. Markaki, A. et al. (2021). Academic service-learning nursing partnerships in the Americas: A scoping review. BMC Nursing 20, 179. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00698-w
4. World Health Organization. (2021). Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery 2021-2025. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240033863
5. Ferrillo, H. (2020). Measuring professional nursing value development in students participating in international service learning: A quasi-experimental study. Nurse Education Today, 84, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2019.104221
6. Kovalenko, C., & Vellenga, B. (2021). A descriptive analysis of the experiences of nursing students who participated in an international service-learning project in Haiti. Journal of Professional Nursing, 37, 1071–1078. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2021.08.003
7. Sedgwick, A. & Atthill, S. (2019). Nursing student engagement in cultural humility through global health service learning: An interpretive phenomenological approach. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 31(3), 304–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659619870570.
Sigma Membership
Nu at-Large
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Cultural Exchange Programs, Study Abroad, Teaching and Learning Strategies, Academic-clinical Partnership, Nursing Education, Advances in Education, Service Learning
Recommended Citation
Markaki, Adelais; Bowers, Deborah; Patton, Emily; and Theus, Lisa, "Service-Learning in Nurse and Midwifery Education: Building Capacity in the Americas" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 138.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/138
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-12-01
Service-Learning in Nurse and Midwifery Education: Building Capacity in the Americas
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Introduction: Service-learning (SL) integrates purposeful and immersive community-based experiences into the curriculum while addressing health disparities.1,2 Growing evidence from North America shows that academic service-learning nursing partnerships can lead to impactful change.3 Yet, the need to integrate SL into the curriculum must be informed by country-specific, regional evidence.
Purpose: To train in and promote integration of SL by nurse and midwife educators in alignment with the Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery4 for developing clinically competent and culturally-sensitive practitioners equipped to provide population-targeted services.
Objective: Identify evidence from the Americas region on service-learning integration and best teaching practices.
Methodology: An integrative literature review in PubMed, CINAHL, and Scopus yielded 21 articles on SL best practices, implementation, and sustainability strategies. Synthesized evidence was used to develop a tailored virtual training.
Results: Evidence was mostly experiential (57%), followed by descriptive/qualitative/mixed methods studies (38%). International service-learning (ISL) or “Study Abroad” was most frequently (62%) used across undergraduate nursing and midwifery programs. The majority of ISL initiatives originated from the US, with three from Canada, Jamaica, and Haiti. Host ISL countries included the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala, Bahamas, and Trinidad. Host settings were community-based units (59%) and free-standing clinics (33%). In most cases, there was no agreement (informal ISL, 85%) and no prior community assessment (70%). Synergy in training, empowerment, education improvement, access to shared resources, and application of knowledge into practice were the most frequently reported outcomes.5,6,7 Planning, implementing and evaluating an ISL initiative required selection of an appropriate model, regular evaluation regularly, and adopting a quality improvement approach.
Conclusion: Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, SL is not integrated into nursing and midwifery educational programs. It is encountered as “community service” and largely achieved through extracurricular activities. Contextualizing ISL enriches education, promotes cultural humility, and equips nursing and midwifery graduates to become catalysts for change.
Description
Service-learning that is informed by regional evidence integrates purposeful and immersive community-based experiences into the curriculum. Evidence from the Americas region on service-learning integration and best teaching practices were used to develop a tailored virtual training. International service-learning enriches education, promotes cultural humility, and equips nursing and midwifery graduates to become catalysts for change.