Mutual Benefits of a Service-Learning Community-Academic Partnership

Background: Service-learning community-academic partnerships provide opportunities for nursing student development. Although mutual benefit has been identified as a critical element for the success of these partnerships, research indicates a lack of attention to this element during the collaborative process. Method: This single case study aimed to identify benefits of an innovative service-learning community-academic partnership between a college of nursing and an elementary school. Data were collected and analyzed from four sources of evidence: interviews, artifacts, documents, and fieldwork. Results: Findings suggest that both the college of nursing and elementary school mutually benefitted from the partnership. Mutual benefits were categorized into three categories: (a) student service leadership development, (b) service-learning curricula enrichment, and (c) enhanced partner service initiatives. Conclusion: To increase capacity for sustainability of service-learning partnerships, the following strategies are recommended: initiation of a formal contract between partners, use of a guiding framework to identify outcomes, and faculty support for service initiatives.