Honors Proposal: “Safe Sleep – Cribs for Kids, Training First Responders”

Student: Ashley Wolanzyk

Faculty: Dr. Amy Weaver, PhD, RN, CNE

Department of Nursing
aweaver@ysu.edu

Course: NURS 3710 Nursing in the Community

Objectives:

1. Receive training from Akron Children’s Hospital about the Safe Sleep program.

2. Investigate National Institute of Health’s Safe to Sleep Public Education Campaign. Become

an expert about the topic.

3. Research statistics about SIDS/Safe Infant Sleep.

4. Educate First Responders in the Ohio Tri-County area about Safe to Sleep program.

Evaluation:

1. Journal component consisting of detailed descriptions during orientation and teaching

components of the classes taught to first responders. Journals shall include a log of which

departments were trained, when training occurred, and how the nursing student shared their

knowledge and expertise.

2. Provide report about the program and statistics on SIDS/Safe Sleep campaigns. Report should

give insight into similar programs in the nation, outcomes, if any, and how community nursing

aspects such as the Safe Sleep program benefit the community.

Course Description: “Nursing in the community including families in health and illness needs;
culturally competent health care; teaching and learning aspects; psychosocial concepts,
spirituality, and home health concepts and skills.” This course is comprised of 5 semester hours.

In order to contract Nursing in the Community 3710 with Dr. Amy Weaver, I will be
partaking in the Safe Sleep--Cribs for Kids campaign. This program allows nurses in the
community setting to train first responders, such as fire and police departments, about safe sleep
recommendations for infants and children. This interdisciplinary partnership allows better
coverage of education for families in our community. Since nurses and health care professionals
aren’t always readily accessible or available in the setting of individual homes, first responders
have a need for education regarding how to better serve our community in this way. The nursing
student(s) will be partaking in this process by engaging in the following objectives:

1. Receive training from Akron Children’s Hospital about the Safe Sleep program.
2. Investigate National Institute of Health’s Safe to Sleep Public Education Campaign. Become
an expert about the topic.
3. Research statistics about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome/Safe Infant Sleep.
4. Educate First Responders in the Ohio Tri-County area about Safe to Sleep program.

The overall goal of this program would be for nursing students to become experts on safe
sleep. And further, to work with local first responders and departments on a regular and
consistent basis, within local communities to ensure they will be able to provide resources to
families they encounter while on the job.

This honors contract includes the YSU Honors pillar of volunteerism and service
learning. The purpose of this contract is for student(s) to apply aspects of community nursing
learned in class and clinical hours and convey them in a more concise method to our surrounding
communities. This allows those contracting this course to achieve a greater level of mastery of
these skills and nursing concepts, as well as making a difference in how first responders are able
to provide resources and teaching methods while in the community context. Consequently, the
quality of care and education families in the community receives will increase, as they can
become more knowledgeable on safe sleep and be provided with community resources and
connections that can help better the quality of life for their families. The Safe to Sleep/Cribs for
Kids program may ultimately improve infant mortality rates occurring due to SIDS and sleep
safety concerns.