Baby books: a tool for teaching and learning.

摘要

When a child is born, most middle- and upper-income families get a baby book in which details about the baby's arrival, milestones, and early childhood experiences are recorded. Limited resources prevent most families with low income from doing so. To provide at-risk families a way to record memories about their baby's first years and provide developmental, health, and safety information, nursing students in our pediatric course are given the assignment of creating baby books for families enrolled in the Comprehensive Health Investment Project (CHIP). The CHIP is a home visiting program providing case management, anticipatory guidance, and health education to at-risk families of young children. The assignment gives students a creative way to gain knowledge about the development and health of young children, an essential component of pediatric nursing. Although service learning typically involves experiential service in a community,1 creating baby books is another type of service learning project.