Learning through teaching: empowering students and culturally diverse patients at a community-based nursing care center

This article addresses the effect of a nursing care center on student learning. Associate degree nursing students spend clinical days at a nursing care center that was created in collaboration with an inner-city clinic serving individuals who are uninsured and underinsured. The nursing students learn cultural sensitivity, teaching strategies, and interdisciplinary skills. The service-learning experience benefits the nursing students, the nursing department of the college, the patients who visit the nursing care center, the clinic, and the community. This article describes the development of the nursing care center, examples of teaching-learning opportunities, and evidence of student learning. This successful collaboration between a community college and an inner-city clinic can be Associareplicated by other nursing programs.