Dr. Ruby Dunlap, Associate Professor of Nursing, is the lead author of an article published in the Journal of Nursing Education. Dr. Dunlap has pioneered service learning in the School of Nursing and the university, forging many significant relationships in the local community surrounding Belmont.
Dr. Dunlap and her collaborators describe the formation of the Nursing Education Partnership for Community Health Improvement (NEPCHi), a campus-community partnership with the Edgehill neighborhood, a historical African American community within Nashville. They outline the challenges that were faced and how those challenges were engaged to maintain a viable serving and learning presence within the community. Their aim is to create a body of knowledge about the practical aspects of creating and maintaining partnerships, which can provide guidance for those who wish to duplicate partnerships in other situations. Another goal is to contribute to data sets of experiences from which theories on this kind of human relating can be formed, challenged, or validated.
The article can be accessed online through the Journal of Nursing Education.