Health Promotion for Adolescents at Risk for Homelessness

Navya Nibu, Verrazzano Class of 2024, completed major in Nursing 

From the moment the idea of the capstone project entered my mind, I knew I wanted to research a meaningful topic. I had many ideas but none of them touched my heart as much as youth homelessness. My mentor, Dr. Brillhart, is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, who has seen and cared for such patients throughout the course of her nursing career.  My research involved reading through current research on the risk factors and health promotion strategies for homeless adolescents. I was especially interested in health promotion because as a nurse, one of the many aspects of patient care is encouraging patients to have control over their health and improve their health.

Working on my capstone was an eye-opening experience. I am working-full time as a nurse, in school finishing my Bachelor’s degree in Nursing and also working on my capstone. It was a collection of factors that helped me finish my capstone – my family, friends, my mentor, my advisors, and sheer determination and perseverance. Time management was a key personal skill that I learned to get better at since I had many responsibilities. Planning, writing out schedules, checking off what I had to get done so that I could visualize my progress throughout the day were great strategies that kept me on track.

When working on my capstone, I wanted to further my knowledge about the topic and bring more awareness to the issue of youth homelessness, as well as find out health promotion strategies that nurses have implemented in their practice for this population. I am grateful for this opportunity to research, educate myself, work with my mentor, and disseminate knowledge. At the end of the day, I am pleased with my efforts in completing my capstone.