A service-learning course for nursing students has grown in popularity and improves the health of Indiana University East employees. The course helps prepare students better to lead as nurses promoting wellness through the course, Promoting Healthy Populations, which started in 2017.

Raven Cline of West Alexandria, Ohio, is part of the nursing class of 2021 (she is in the second row in the gray shirt). Cline is one of the nursing students to help IU East employees meet their health goals through the Promoting Healthy Populations course.

“It has been good for the students because they grow as coaches, and it has been good for the employees because they have wellness accountability,” said Assistant Professor of Nursing LaDonna Dulemba.

For the first year the course was taught, Dulemba said that sophomore students coached self-selected clients on specific wellness goals such as drinking more water, eating healthier, or becoming more physically active. The opportunity gave students their first one-on-one training as a coach. For many of the students, this was their first time to interact with a “patient” in a professional setting, Dulemba said. “Probably over half of our students had never had a ‘patient’ at that point.”

After evaluating the first year of Promoting Healthy Populations, funds from the IU East Chancellor’s Community Engagement Course Development Grant were used to train the course faculty, Assistant Professor of Nursing Robin Brunk and Dulemba, as health coaches. A connection was also made with Healthy IU, a university program that works with each campus to promote employee health and wellness. Healthy Populations was then expanded to have some of its students become coaches to IU East staff through Healthy IU’s Ready-to-Move program; other students expanded the outreach for clients in the community.

The program also grew in its focus and hands-on experience for the students to learn how to equip and empower their patient/client to set and achieve goals.

“This is a practical experience that ties directly to nursing by showing students how they, as a coach, can equip, empower and encourage rather than tell their clients what they should be doing,” Dulemba said. “Current best-practice in health coaching is equipping and empowering the client to set and achieve their goals.”

Dulemba said one learning outcome of the experience is to get the nursing students talking with their clients about health promotion. For students who coach Healthy IU clients, it has an added benefit of involving IU East employees in preparing nurses to better serve future patients.

Frances Yates, library director at IU East, said the coaching program got her motivated and committed to a manageable health goal – to be more active daily by walking or taking the stairs.

Olivia Stottlemire of Centerville, Indiana, worked with faculty and staff on campus to improve their health. She found her experience in the Promoting Healthy Populations course provided her with new skills and confidence in patient care.

“I’ve always worked in an education setting and value experiential learning, so I always want to support projects that get students actively engaged in learning by doing,” Yates said. “The program gave me an opportunity to positively interact with a student while working to accomplish a health goal.”

Her improvement, with the help of her coach Raven Cline, came with small, realistic steps such as walking 10 minutes at first, then building up slowly. Cline is a nursing major from West Alexandria, Ohio.

“I think we both recognized that steady program was to be celebrated, and we did. Being accountable to a student-coach was a big motivator for me. I didn’t want to let her down by not meeting my goals. While I wanted to be successful, I also wanted her to have a positive experience through the accomplishment of coaching me to a healthier daily lifestyle,” Yates said.

Olivia Stottlemire, a junior nursing major from Centerville, Indiana, coached one staff member through the Healthy IU program.

“The program offered me the experience of not only holding my client accountable, but to also hold myself accountable. It was a very therapeutic experience for both of us,” Stottlemire said.

At first, she found it intimidating, noting that it became easier the more they got together.

“I believe my client learned to believe in herself more through me. Over time, I noticed she became more interested and excited to set a new goal every week. She taught me to have more confidence in myself when it came to providing care for others,” Stottlemire said.

Cline, now a senior, was a health coach for the first semester of her sophomore year. She said the experience also built her confidence.

“It helped me realize that I knew more than I thought, and it made me realize that I could really make a difference in someone’s life,” Cline said.

She learned in the process about making changes along the way when necessary.

“You are always assessing your patients for changes, and then making changes to your care plans based on those changes,” Cline said. “That is important in nursing because if a treatment is not working, you need to talk to other professionals and make changes to treatment to get the best outcome for the patient.”

Cline also believes the experience has prepared her to be able to take charge of a patient’s care.

Samantha Schaefer, manager of the Healthy IU program, said the two programs working together provides nursing students a “real-world” setting for learning.

“The students gain real world experience by being able to apply what they are learning in the classroom, and the employees benefit by getting support and guidance on their wellness goals,” Schaefer said. “The students provide the employee accountability with regular check-ins, and the employees are committed to help the students learn as it is part of the student’s academic coursework and grade.”

Schaefer notes a side benefit – helping connect employees who may not be in a student-facing role, allowing them to connect with the students being served by the university. “This program builds a sense of community,” Schaefer said. She also cites the benefit of the students gaining vital communication skills, “which focuses heavily on listening. Particularly in the healthcare industry, these wellness coaching skills will provide the future practitioners with valuable skills to actively listen to their patients, assist with realistic goal setting, and navigating resources to help each patient reach their goals.”

Darla Lane, assistant to the dean for the IU East School of Business and Economics, participated in the program for part of a semester.

“I was willing to help with the program because it was a simple way of investing in our IU East students. They needed practical experience, and I needed accountability,” Lane said. Her student-coach worked with her to focus on more exercise, drinking more water, and making good nutrition choices.

“What I learned from the program is that gentle encouragement and accountability makes a difference to me in promoting healthy choices,” Lane said.