| Course | NUR 303 Service Learning and Civic Engagement |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Community assessment short paper with asset map |
| Length | About 1,030 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | RN to BSN |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 303 Module 3
Eight Blocks Around Eastgate Coin Laundry: A Windshield Survey and Asset Map for a Service-Learning Project
[Student Name]
Southern New Hampshire University
NUR 303: Service Learning and Civic Engagement
Module Three Short Paper
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The organization, setting and figures below are a composite written as a model document. No real employer, client, colleague or patient is described.
Eight Blocks Around Eastgate Coin Laundry: A Windshield Survey and Asset Map for a Service-Learning Project
Community assessments in nursing often begin with a list of problems, which can make a neighborhood sound like a collection of deficits. This paper takes a different starting point. It reports a windshield and walking survey of the eight blocks surrounding Eastgate Coin Laundry, the site of a planned monthly health table, and organizes the findings as an asset map before turning to needs. The assessment finds that the neighborhood's strongest assets are its informal gathering places and trusted local people, and that its most pressing gap for this project is access to care on weekends, when working residents are free. The neighborhood and all places and people described are composites.
Method
The survey used the windshield and walking approach from the Community Tool Box, which pairs a drive through the area for an overview with a slow walk to catch details a driver misses (Center for Community Health and Development, n.d.). I made three visits: a weekday at 7:30 a.m., a weekday at 5:30 p.m. and a Saturday at 10:00 a.m. On each visit I recorded housing, transportation, businesses and services, public spaces, signs of activity and safety, and who was out on the street. I did not photograph people or enter private buildings.
To organize what I found, I used the asset-mapping categories proposed by Kretzmann and McKnight (1993): the gifts of individuals, local associations, institutions, physical spaces and the local economy. Their central argument is that communities are built by mobilizing what residents already have, and that outside helpers do the most good when they start from those strengths. Morgan and Ziglio (2007) make a related case for public health, arguing that an evidence base built only on deficits misses the factors that help people and communities stay healthy.
What the Neighborhood Already Has
Table 1 summarizes the asset map. The most striking finding was how many informal gathering places the area has for its size.
Table 1
Asset Map of the Eight Blocks Around Eastgate Coin Laundry
| Asset category | What I observed | Why it matters for the project |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals | The laundromat owner, a barber who has cut hair on the block for 30 years, the outreach coordinator | Trusted people who can tell neighbors about the table |
| Associations | Eastgate Neighbors Association, a tenants' group in the largest apartment block, a youth soccer league | Existing networks for spreading word and making referrals |
| Institutions | Community health center two blocks away, branch library, elementary school, a Baptist church with a Saturday free meal | Places to refer people and to share the schedule |
| Physical spaces | Small park with a mural and benches, wide sidewalks on the main street, bus shelter on Route 9 | Where people wait, sit and meet |
| Local economy | Laundromat, two small groceries, a pho restaurant, a dollar store, a check-cashing store | Where residents spend time and money every week |
Note. All places and people are composites. Categories follow Kretzmann and McKnight (1993).
Physical and Social Environment
Housing is a mix of three-story wooden houses divided into apartments and two brick apartment blocks built in the 1960s. Most buildings have exterior stairs, and several porches needed repair. The main street has a bus line with service every 20 minutes during the day and every 40 minutes after 7 p.m. and on weekends. Side streets have narrow sidewalks, and at the one busy intersection near the school, the pedestrian signal gave about 20 seconds to cross four lanes, which is short for an older adult or a parent with young children.
Food access is limited but not absent. Two small groceries sell produce, although selection was thin on the weekday evening visit, and the nearest full supermarket is about a mile away by bus. The dollar store and a fried chicken restaurant were the busiest food businesses on the Saturday visit. On every visit, people were outdoors: parents walking children to school in the morning, workers waiting for the bus at dusk and families at the park on Saturday. The laundromat was full on Saturday morning, and the barbershop next door had a line.
Needs and Gaps
Three gaps matter most for this project. The first is timing. The community health center keeps weekday business hours and closes at five, which are the same hours many residents spend at work. The Saturday line at the laundromat and the barbershop shows when people are actually free. The second is paperwork. The outreach coordinator reports that residents regularly bring her insurance notices, prescription labels and appointment letters they cannot interpret, a pattern that fits the federal framework's attention to education access and health care access as social determinants (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). The third is safe movement around the neighborhood, especially for older residents who must climb exterior stairs and cross the main road on a short signal.
Matching Assets to Needs
The asset map suggests how the health table can address these gaps without trying to replace existing services. A Saturday morning table at the laundromat fills the weekend gap and can steer people to the health center on weekdays. The outreach coordinator's paperwork help, already trusted, can be offered at the table alongside blood pressure checks. The barber and the tenants' group can share the schedule, and the church's Saturday meal and the library can carry flyers. The crossing signal is outside the table's scope, but it is a concern the association could raise with the city, and it may become the subject of this course's advocacy work.
Limitations
Three visits give a snapshot, not a full picture. I saw the neighborhood as an outsider in daylight and could not observe evenings, winter or the inside of homes. The assessment relies on one partner's view of residents' needs, and residents themselves may see things differently. Before the first session, I will ask the owner, the barber and the tenants' group what they think neighbors would want from a nurse at the laundromat, and I will revise the plan if their answers differ from mine. I will also return once in the evening after dark, because safety and lighting on the side streets may look very different at that hour, and a table that draws people out on winter evenings would need to account for it.
References
Center for Community Health and Development. (n.d.). Windshield and walking surveys. Community Tool Box, University of Kansas. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/windshield-walking-surveys/main
Kretzmann, J. P., & McKnight, J. L. (1993). Building communities from the inside out: A path toward finding and mobilizing a community's assets. ACTA Publications.
Morgan, A., & Ziglio, E. (2007). Revitalising the evidence base for public health: An assets model. Promotion & Education, 14(Suppl. 2), 17-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/10253823070140020701x
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Social determinants of health. Healthy People 2030. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health
What the NUR 303 Module 3 instructions ask for
The Module 3 short paper in NUR 303 generally asks for an assessment of the community served by your service-learning partner. Many versions call for a windshield or walking survey, a description of the physical and social environment, the identification of strengths and resources, and the needs or gaps that the service project might address. Some sections provide a community assessment template or a list of domains to cover, such as housing, transportation, food access, safety, health services and social networks. Expect a short paper of about three to four pages in APA 7, often with a table or map. The prompt usually asks you to connect the findings to the project you proposed in Module 2.
How this NUR 303 Module 3 community assessment short paper example is built
This example defines a small area, eight blocks around the partner's laundromat, and describes three visits at different times of day. It organizes findings with the five asset-mapping categories from Kretzmann and McKnight in an APA table before describing the physical and social environment in more detail. Needs come next and are drawn from observation and from the partner's reports, each linked to a social determinant domain. A matching section turns assets and needs into decisions for the health table, and a limitations paragraph names what three daytime visits could not reveal and how the student will check the conclusions with residents. The neighborhood is a composite; the four references are real.
Where the NUR 303 Module 3 rubric puts the points
Community assessment rubrics in NUR 303 often score the description of the community, the identification of assets and resources, the identification of needs, the connection to the service-learning project and APA and writing quality. The assets criterion is easy to underplay, and papers that list only problems tend to lose points there. The connection criterion rewards papers that turn findings into decisions for the project. Graders also look for observations that are specific rather than general, such as bus frequency, crossing times or store hours. A clear method section and an honest statement of limitations help the paper read as a real assessment rather than an impression.
NUR 303 Module 3 help: the mistakes that cost points
The most frequent mistake in this assignment is writing about a whole city or county with statistics copied from a website and no firsthand observation. Another is a list of problems with no assets, which misses the point of a service-learning assessment. Some students describe what they saw without explaining why it matters for the project. Others make claims about residents' beliefs or behaviors based on appearance, which graders may read as stereotyping. Keep the area small, observe it more than once, report what you actually saw, list strengths first and connect each finding to a decision about your project. Mark clearly what you inferred rather than observed.
Get NUR 303 Module 3 written to your instructions
Describe the neighborhood or population your partner serves and paste the Module 3 prompt with its rubric. The community assessment arrives in 24 to 48 hours, organized around that area with an asset map, and the first sample costs you nothing. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.
More NUR 303 papers and related RN to BSN samples
- NUR 303 Module 1 Journal: What a Nurse Owes Beyond the Shift
- NUR 303 Module 2 Community Partner Proposal: A Wash-Day Health Table in a Laundromat
- NUR 303 Module 4 Project One Service-Learning Plan: Objectives, Scope and Measures for the Health Table
- NUR 303 Module 5 Advocacy Letter: Medicaid Payment for Community Health Workers
- NUR 303 Module 6 Reflection Journal: A Reading of 184 Over 112 on Wash Day
- NUR 303 Module 7 Project Two Project Report: Six Wash Days, Counted and Judged
- NUR 303 Module 8 Final Reflection Paper: A Citizen With a License
- NUR 440 Module 7 Final Project: Integrative Review
- NUR 315 Module 5 Milestone Two
- NUR 325 Module 5 Patient Analysis
- NUR 302 Module 8 Journal: What the Word Noncompliant Hid
NUR 303 Module 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 303 Module 3 community assessment sample paper?
The complete paper on this page is free: a windshield and walking survey of the blocks around a laundromat, an asset map table, needs, a matching section and limitations, with margin notes and four references. A version for your own partner's neighborhood can be ordered.
What is a windshield survey in NUR 303?
A structured observation of a neighborhood made by driving and walking through it, recording housing, transportation, services, public spaces and activity. Making more than one visit at different times gives a fuller picture.
Do I have to include community statistics?
Check the prompt. Many sections focus on firsthand observation of a small area, and statistics for a whole county may not describe it well. If you use data, say which area and year it covers.
What is an asset map?
A list or map of the strengths a community already has: people, associations, institutions, physical spaces and local businesses. In a service-learning paper it shows what your project can build on instead of starting from scratch.
How does Module 3 connect to the rest of NUR 303?
The assessment usually feeds directly into the Project One service-learning plan. Assets become resources in the plan, and the needs you identify become the plan's objectives.