‘Tiger Tuesdays’ take nursing faculty back to Boykin community

Martin, an assistant clinical professor in nursing, was recently named a Macy Faculty Fellow.

Student Graci Foshee conducts a blood pressure screening at the Boykin Community Center.

Student Sophia Sarakatsannis announces a bingo winner at the Boykin Community Center.

Martin's work at the Boykin Center is good for both the students and the community.

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When Chris Martin was a student at Auburn University, his developmental psychology professor offered the class a choice: write a 20-page paper or do 40 hours of volunteering in the community.  

“At that time, I was not one to do any extra academic type of work, so I easily said, ‘40 hours, please,’ and I volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club at the Boykin Community Center,” he said. “When I returned to Auburn as a professor in 2019, I wanted to get back into that community in a meaningful way.” 

And getting back into Boykin is exactly what he’s done. Martin, an assistant clinical professor in Auburn’s College of Nursing, was recently named a faculty scholar by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, which aims to nurture the careers of promising educators in medicine and nursing.  

When he learned the fellowship came with financial support to do a community-based project of his choosing, Martin decided to return to Boykin. The City of Auburn facility is home to the Auburn Clubhouse of Boys & Girls Club, a senior center and a community health clinic and pharmacy staffed by students and faculty in the College of Nursing and the Harrison College of Pharmacy (HCOP). 

“The guiding force behind what I want to do at Boykin is to connect the needs of communities with the needs of our nursing curriculum,” Martin said. “I want to take our students outside of the classroom, the lab and traditional clinical settings and put them in the community, so we can bring health to the places where people are most comfortable.” 

Once a month, Martin leads his students through “Tiger Tuesdays,” a full day of health promotion activities at Boykin. The mornings are spent working with senior citizens, and afternoons are for the children at the Boys & Girls Club. 

Mornings: Bingo with the seniors 

On the mornings they visit the senior center, Martin’s students conduct health screenings for blood pressure and blood glucose and educate the audience on topics such as preventative health and cancer screenings. Martin leaves a box for questions at the center, and he and the students answer them out loud. They also work with HCOP faculty and staff to provide vaccines and medication advice.  

Martin said it’s a great opportunity for students to see a different angle of caring for seniors.  

“So many of our students automatically connect advanced age with illness, and that’s not necessarily the case,” he said. “One of the themes that comes up repeatedly is that students come in thinking the seniors are not going to be very active, and then they get there and they’re playing bingo and doing puzzles or working on group art projects. They’re really creating community.”  

During each visit, Martin has his students call bingo games and announce giveaways for door prizes. He is grateful the community members have been so receptive to the students’ efforts, and he’s proud to be adding value to the center.  

“The seniors there really do want to know more about the Boykin Clinic and what care they can get there, and they’re very interested in receiving as much of their preventative care as possible at the senior center,” he said.  

Afternoons: Fun activities with the next generation 

The goal of an afternoon with Boys & Girls Club members is to get the children moving, active and engaged with a specific health-related topic. Martin’s students have covered subjects including healthy habits, effective teeth brushing and breathing techniques for mindfulness. 

One favorite activity involves the children lathering up with Glo Germ, a lotion containing glow-in-the-dark flecks, and then using a black light to see how many germs are left after washing their hands.                                         

Another popular activity is a show-and-tell with medical equipment that can make health care provider visits less scary.  

“There’s a really special type of magic that you can see in a child’s eyes when they put on a stethoscope and they hear their friend’s heartbeat for the first time,” Martin said. “It’s awesome.” 

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While activities like these are engaging and educational, Martin said they also serve as a way to introduce the children to careers in health care. With the national shortage of nurses only growing, he sees this time with the children as an opportunity to inspire the next generation of health care providers.  

“I’m a firm believer that, if you want to get results you’ve never seen, you’re going to have to do things you’ve never done,” Martin said. “By starting early and introducing nursing as a potential career field, we can plant some seeds and give these students an early perspective of what it’s like being a nurse.” 

Good vibes 

After a long day at Boykin, Martin always has a session with his students to review their experiences, and he also requires them to write a reflection. The feedback he’s getting tells him this work is good for both the students and the community.  

“It gives our students a different way to engage with a population they have a lot of preconceived notions about,” he said. “The more resources we can bring to the community, the more likely they’ll be to continue that engagement.” 

Linda Gibson-Young, the college’s outreach coordinator, said Martin’s idea to return to Boykin was a good one.  

“It’s a great project, because both the Boykin community and the nursing students benefit,” she said. “The community receives vital health care support, and the students gain invaluable hands-on experience that shapes their professional growth and commitment to service.”