Primary Care for Migrant Workers

Hello from Putnam County, Florida! Maya and I are staying quite busy working with Catherine, our nurse preceptor, and the migrant farm worker program here at the health department. Because of the partnership between Putnam County Health Department and St. Vincent's Hospital (located in Jacksonville) we are able to provide primary medical services to migrant farm workers. Maya and I go out 3 days a week on a mobile unit and stay in the office the other days catching up on charting and working on our own project.

The mobile unit is able to go to many different locations in order to meet our patients in their own community. We go to Crescent City, Fl and park in church parking lots, outside of a grocery store, or next door to a daycare center. The health department also borrows clinic space from a full service school, so some days we work inside a building out of a full service clinic. On Monday evenings, we go to Hastings, Fl and work out of a full service clinic.

There are many different services we are able to provide. With our mobile unit, we are focused on primary care. We have an on-board pharmacy that is able to dispense certain types of medications at no cost to the patient. Some days we have a podiatrist, and other days we focus on women's health or family planning. If a patient is in need of more extensive or follow-up care, we can refer them to other services.

Maya and I have also been able to work with other nurses in the health department. We helped our school nurses with screenings at an elementary school. We worked with our immunization nurse and helped administer flu and hepatitis B vaccines. We were also able to host a table at a family health fair at a Georgia Pacific Plant with our nurses that work in the colorectal and breast/cervical cancer departments.

As the weeks go by, I am learning so much about public health in this part of Florida. And there are so many opportunities to be involved in the community and in the health department. Not to mention all of the beautiful places to visit along the coast! Going to a beach and swimming in mid-October is a new experience in itself!