Nursing Students Help with Katrina Victims

Through the Feldman Initiative: Hancock County, seven Penn Nursing students joined colleagues from the schools of social policy and practice (SP2), engineering, and dental to participate in a series of projects aimed at post-Katrina health and environmental recovery efforts. From January 3rd to 13th, nursing seniors Pheobe Askie, Anne-Marie Beitler, Alexis Kalman, Danielle Klosiewicz, Gina McShea, Stephanie Ng, and Sofia Wronski went to Pearlington, Miss., a city where families still live in FEMA trailers and the mental and physical health needs of the community seem endless. There, they traveled door-to-door to interview residents, and concluded their visit with a free health fair to help address the myriad health issues Pearlington and other county residents continue to face. Currently, nursing faculty are working to incorporate their experiences in Pearlington into the nursing curriculum, from establishing courses on disaster planning and aftermath to fundraising efforts for future student travels.

“This was a traumatic event, a disaster that people are still living,” says Associate Professor Julie Sochalski, HOM'02, PhD, RN, FAAN a community health nurse. “When you lose your entire community, how do you help people recover and have lives again? The Feldman Initiative offered us a unique opportunity –– a great, challenging opportunity –– to do just that.”

The nursing seniors, who partnered with SP2 students to interview residents about their health concerns, would certainly agree. They detailed their experience through a blog at

http://pennnursinginpearlington.blogspot.com/