Just got the syllabus for this semester's class, and we're *required* to "volunteer in the community" for two hours and then write a reflection paper on the experience.
Note, this is NOT nursing-related volunteering, we don't wear our clinical scrubs or anything to identify us as students, etc. This is allegedly so we can get a "service learning" endorsement on our diplomas, but we already accomplished that with an earlier project in our first year.
This just seems soooooooo odd to me. How can it be teaching us to volunteer and contribute to our community if it's a REQUIREMENT in order to pass the class?
Note that I'm not anti-volunteering in the least ... I was a Red Cross Volunteen working in nursing homes, chapter houses, bloodmobiles, etc., as soon as I was old enough to do so! It's just that, to me, all it will do is turn people OFF from volunteering if it's FORCED upon them, particularly since we're required to volunteer in the community where our school is located, rather than the community where we live.
Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone else has this "volunteering requirement" in their program?