Fostering Nursing Students' Growth in Patient Teaching and Empathy Toward Homeless People

Helping nursing students explore personal perceptions toward the poor can support students' ability to care for impoverished people in their later nursing practice. A community-based mental health clinical site at a transitional housing complex for the homeless provided a meaningful experience for accelerated baccalaureate nursing students. Students offered basic health screening to the low-income residents and participated in a virtual health education question-and-answer meeting with former transitional housing residents. Through reflective journaling, students described how they gained empathy and new understanding of the needs of people living in poverty or unhoused, and developed confidence in patient teaching.