Homeless shelter, nursing school partner for health project

Some nursing students from UPEI are being put to work at Charlottetown's homeless shelter for men, Bedford MacDonald House.

The faculty of nursing is partnering with the Salvation Army, which runs the shelter, for the project. It will provide some health care and give support and health education to the people who use the shelter, while being an important learning opportunity for the students.

"I think the students are pretty excited," said Jo-Ann MacDonald, interim dean of the faculty of nursing.

"This is a first-hand opportunity to see health promotion in action with a very diverse group of people that we don't often get an opportunity to work with."

In the fall, two fourth-year nursing students will complete their clinical placements at Bedford MacDonald House, working three days a week. In the winter semester, two third-year nursing students will be there twice a week.

The work is connected to a course on nursing and population health, which looks at how living on the margins of society can affect health.

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