Left to right: Mount Saint Mary College Nursing students Kyra Hazzard and Bisi Akin, both of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Brittany Ubrich of Cold Spring, N.Y.
A joint initiative by Mount Saint Mary College and the Newburgh Ministry is giving Nursing students hands-on experience in educating real-world clients on mental health issues.
“One of my major goals has been dispelling the myths of mental illness, as well as making the struggles of those with mental health diagnoses real and impactful,” said Linda Kelly, associate professor of Nursing at the Mount. “How do you bring client struggles and the realities of their experiences to life in the classroom?”
The answer came during the Spring 2024 semester as a trio of Kelly’s students – Kyra Hazzard and Bisi Akin, both of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Brittany Ubrich of Cold Spring, N.Y. – took part in a pilot clinical experience at the Newburgh Ministry. The ministry, located at 9 Johnston Street in the City of Newburgh, is a community agency that provides services to unhoused individuals from the Newburgh and Orange County area.
Over the course of seven weeks in the Spring 2024 semester, the students spoke with a group of unhoused clients of the Newburgh Ministry and learned about the problems and challenges they face in relation to their mental health. With these concerns in mind, the students researched local resources that would aid their clients. The students also taught health promotion and prevention strategies and worked with clients on how they plan to move forward and regain a sense of independence, health, and stability.
“Understanding what it truly means to be homeless, to have a mental health or substance use disorder, and to see and hear the stories of those who live these lives – these experiences cannot be understood or communicated to the fullest extent in a classroom setting,” said Kelly.
Her students agreed.
“This is real,” said Akin. “This is more than studying or learning in school. Here, we see the reality of things.” She added, “This has increased my empathy. It’s good to listen – there’s a lot inside of the clients, and when they talk about it, they feel a little bit relieved.”
Ubrich came to a similar conclusion: “It’s been really eye-opening,” she said. “All the residents have been really appreciative of what we’ve done.”
Plans are already underway for the next clinical group of Mount students to continue the program.