Support Group Meetings : Alcoholics Anonynous and Ala-Non Purpose: The purpose

Support Group Meetings : Alcoholics Anonynous and Ala-Non
Purpose: The purpose of these observational experiences is for the student to explore
community resources that support the mental health needs of clients.
1 – AA Meeting
1 – Ala-Non Meeting
Objectives:
Upon completion of each experience, the student will:
1. Describe the history, goals, purpose, and philosophy of the organization.
2. Discuss the services provided, populations served, organizational structure, and funding of the organization.
3. Examine the role of the nurse and/or health care team in relationship to the organization.
Requirements
As part of the Nursing 2124 course, the student is required to attend an open support group meeting of both Alcoholics Anonymous and Ala-Non and to research general information about these groups. Written documentation of this requirement must be uploaded to Canvas and must meet the criteria.
The following steps must be completed to attain clinical credit for this assignment:
1. Explore the web sites below for general information as well as local meeting information.
Alcoholics Anonymous:
 www.aabatonrouge.org
This site will allow you to select an “open” AA meeting in Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas. Click on meetings to select your meeting. One of the dropdown menus will specify the type meeting and please be sure that the meeting is an “open” meeting (open to public). Closed meetings are only for persons who think that they have a problem with drinking.
 www.recovery.org
This site offers general information about Alcoholics Anonymous (see 12- Step Program)
Ala-Non:
 www.batonrougealanon.org
2. Read section on Alcoholic Anonymous in Boyd, Chapter 25 Addiction and
Substance-related Disorders.
3. Attend one AA meeting and one Ala-Non meeting. Identify self to the group
participants and state your purpose for attending. (NO Name-Tags or Uniforms)
4. Complete required papers following the guidelines below.
Submit your two papers in the designated assignment folder on Canvas by
date/time indicated on the clinical group list.
Written Assignment guidelines:
After attending the support group meetings, the student will submit a separate report for AA and Al-Anon. The reports should be at least 1.5 pages and no more than 3 pages using APA guidelines. Following general APA guidelines, your report should be double-spaced with one inch margins on all sides. Use the recommended 12 pt. Times New Roman font.
Go to the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ for guidelines to include a title page and a page number on every page.
The following should be included in the body of the paper:
1. Name of organization; location and date of meeting
2. History, goals, purpose, and philosophy of the organization
3. Population served; organizational structure; source of funding
4. Criteria for membership; roles and responsibilities of members
5. Type meeting (eg.,Step Study, Discussion, Speaker, Big Book Study)
6. Description of what occurred during the meeting
7. Personal thoughts during the meeting
8. Two “feeling” words that exemplify your experience and explain
9. Implications for your nursing practice related to this experience
The following rubric outlines the expectations for clinical credit for the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting report and the Ala-Non meeting report. The student must achieve a Pass score of 80 on both reports to obtain credit for this assignment.
Criteria Points
History, goals, purpose, and philosophy of the organization 20
Population served, organizational structure, and the funding of the organization 10
Criteria for membership and roles and responsibilities of members 10
Type of meeting and what occurred during the meeting 10
Personal thoughts while attending the meeting 10
Personal feelings while attending the meeting 10
Implications for your nursing practice related to this experience 20
APA guidelines for formatting paper (Title page and general formatting) 10