N489 Module 7 Building a Community Partnership Example

Reviewed by Maren Hollowell, MSN, RN Aspen University Updated September 2026

This N489 Module 7 sample paper describes how a community health nurse would build the partnership behind a composite walking group program in Pueblo County, Colorado. It belongs to Community Health Nursing I in the Aspen University pre-licensure BSN program, where the catalog ends its content with community partnership. The work follows partnership principles set out by Israel and colleagues: the community as a unit of identity, building on strengths, equitable involvement, knowledge joined with action and long-term commitment. A table lists six partners, from churches and meal sites to city parks, a clinic, residents and the nursing program, with what each brings and needs. The paper follows a listening-first meeting, three changes residents made, power and trust, a written agreement, a real disagreement resolved openly and signs of a healthy partnership. Aspen BSN students see a plan become the community's.

CourseN489 Community Health Nursing I
ModuleModule 7
Paper typePartnership plan
LengthAbout 1,029 words, 6 pages
FormatAPA 7 student paper
SchoolAspen University
ProgramPre-licensure BSN
UpdatedSeptember 2026

Free sample paper for N489 Module 7

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Many Hands on One Route: Building the Community Partnership Behind a Walking Group Program in Pueblo County

Student Name

Pre-licensure BSN Program, Aspen University

N489: Community Health Nursing I

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

What this page is doingThe title uses the program's walking image for the idea of shared work, which is the paper's theme. APA 7 student title page.
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Many Hands on One Route: Building the Community Partnership Behind a Walking Group Program in Pueblo County

No nurse can reduce inactivity in a county alone. The Caminemos walking groups planned in Module 6 depend on churches, meal sites, local government, clinics and residents. This paper describes how a community health nurse would build that partnership, drawing on principles of community-based partnership, and how the nurse would keep it fair and healthy. The partners are described by type rather than by name, since the program is a composite designed for this course.

Principles of Partnership

A review of community-based research described principles for partnerships that improve public health, including recognizing the community as a unit of identity, building on community strengths and resources, facilitating collaborative, equitable involvement of all partners in every phase, integrating knowledge and action for mutual benefit, and a long-term commitment by all partners (Israel et al., 1998). These principles shift the nurse's role from expert delivering a program to partner building one with the community. For a nurse used to directing care in a hospital, this shift can be the hardest part of community work.

What this page is doingGrounding the partnership in published principles gives the paper a standard against which each later decision can be checked.
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The Partners

The table lists the partners, what each brings and what each needs from the partnership.

PartnerBringsNeeds
Two churchesHalls, trusted leaders, congregations, volunteersPrograms that fit their mission and schedules
Two senior meal sitesOlder adults who already gather, staff who know themActivities that are safe for frail participants
City parks and public worksRoute information, sidewalk repair lists, park accessEvidence of community use to justify repairs
A community health clinicReferrals, blood pressure follow-up, credibilityHelp reaching patients outside visits
ResidentsKnowledge of streets, times and what people will joinA real voice and respect for their time
The nursing programNurse time, training, data and evaluationCommunity learning experiences for students
What this page is doingListing what each partner needs, not only what it brings, is what keeps a partnership mutual rather than extractive.
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The First Meeting

The nurse's first step is to listen. Before proposing a program, the nurse would meet church leaders, meal site staff and a small group of residents separately to learn what they see as barriers to activity and what they would support. The first joint meeting, held at a church hall on a weekday evening with food and Spanish interpretation, would share the county data from earlier modules, including the finding that roughly a quarter of the county's adults are inactive in their free time (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2025), ask partners what the data mean to them and invite them to shape the program, including its name, schedule and routes. The nurse would also ask who was missing from the room and how to reach them, since the people most affected are often the least likely to attend a meeting.

Shared Decision-Making

In the composite plan, residents changed the program in three ways. They moved the Saturday walk earlier to avoid summer heat, asked for a route past the community garden so walkers could see and share vegetables, and suggested the name Caminemos instead of the nurse's working title. These changes are small, but they show the program becoming the community's rather than the nurse's.

What this page is doingShowing concrete changes residents made demonstrates shared decision-making in practice rather than as a stated value.
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Power and Trust

Partnerships carry unequal power. The nurse controls data, funding requests and the university's name, while residents control whether anyone shows up. Trust grows when the nurse shares data openly, credits partners publicly, follows through on promises and accepts decisions the nurse would not have made. It is damaged when outside partners arrive, collect information and leave. Israel et al. (1998) describe long-term commitment as a core principle for exactly this reason. Paying residents for their time on planning committees, where funding allows, is one concrete way to recognize that their knowledge has value.

An Agreement on Roles

A one-page agreement would set out each partner's role, meeting frequency, how decisions are made, who speaks for the program and how data are shared. It would state that the partnership meets monthly for the first six months and then quarterly, that decisions are made by consensus where possible and that residents hold at least a third of the seats. Writing roles down prevents misunderstandings when people change jobs.

Handling Conflict

Conflict is normal in partnerships. In the composite plan, one church wanted walks limited to its members, while the partnership had agreed that every group would be open to all residents. The nurse did not decide alone. The issue went to the partnership meeting, where the church's pastor explained concerns about liability and space, and the group agreed that the church would host an open walk while keeping a separate members-only fellowship walk. Resolving the disagreement openly, with the partner's concerns heard, strengthened trust. The agreement was updated to say how future disagreements would be handled.

Signs of a Healthy Partnership

A healthy partnership shows up in attendance at meetings, partners taking on tasks without being asked, residents leading parts of meetings, disagreements raised openly and resolved, and new partners asking to join. Warning signs include meetings that only the nurse speaks at, partners who stop attending and decisions made outside meetings. The nurse can check these signs every quarter and ask partners directly how the partnership is working for them. A short anonymous survey of partners once a year can surface concerns that people hesitate to raise in meetings.

The Nurse's Roles

In this partnership, the nurse acts as convener, bringing people together; as facilitator, making sure all voices are heard; as resource, providing data, training and health expertise; and as advocate, taking concerns such as sidewalk repair to the city. Public health nursing texts describe these as core community roles (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2020). Over time, the nurse's aim is to step back as partners take on these roles themselves.

Conclusion

Caminemos depends on a partnership of churches, meal sites, city departments, a clinic, residents and the nursing program. Built on principles of equitable involvement, shared decision-making and long-term commitment, and held together by a written agreement and regular checks on its health, the partnership turns a nurse's plan into a community's program. The partnership also outlasts any single program, leaving the community with relationships it can use for the next health problem it chooses to tackle.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). PLACES: Local data for better health, county data, 2025 release [Data set]. https://data.cdc.gov/d/swc5-untb

Israel, B. A., Schulz, A. J., Parker, E. A., & Becker, A. B. (1998). Review of community-based research: Assessing partnership approaches to improve public health. Annual Review of Public Health, 19, 173-202. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.19.1.173

Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2020). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community (10th ed.). Elsevier.

Reading the N489 Module 7 assignment instructions

Aspen's N489 description closes its content with community partnership, and this example builds on that close because the module prompt is limited to the online classroom. A partnership assignment usually asks you to identify partners for a health program, explain what each contributes, describe how you would engage them and share decisions, and discuss challenges such as power and trust. Some instructors ask for a framework such as community-based participatory research. Check whether partners must be real organizations or may be described by type, whether a table is expected, whether conflict should be addressed, and whether the partnership must connect to the program you planned earlier. Some courses also want a meeting agenda or a partnership agreement attached. Ask whether a sample agreement should be attached.

How this N489 Module 7 example is built

Close to 1,000 words fall under eleven headings, with one partner table. The introduction explains why no nurse can do this alone. A section sets out principles from the partnership literature. The table lists partners with what they bring and need. The first meeting, built on listening, is described next, followed by the changes residents made. Power and trust, a written agreement on roles and the handling of a disagreement come next. Signs of a healthy partnership and the nurse's roles lead to a conclusion that the partnership outlasts any single program. The partner table carries most of the detail. The conflict section shows a concern heard rather than overruled.

N489 Module 7 rubric: what earns full marks

Partnership papers are usually graded on use of principles, appropriate partners, genuine shared decision-making and attention to power and sustainability. Principles are drawn from a published review and applied throughout, which a margin note explains. Partners are appropriate, and a second note credits listing what each needs as well as brings. Shared decision-making is shown through concrete changes residents made, noted in a third comment. Power and conflict are addressed honestly, with a disagreement resolved in the open. Sustainability appears in the agreement and the nurse stepping back. Accurate citation of the partnership review and the county sources finishes the grade. The written agreement also shows attention to sustainability. The paper also notes how the nurse steps back over time.

N489 Module 7 help from the desk

The most frequent weakness is a partner list with no sense of what partners gain or need. Show both sides. Students also describe shared decision-making in principle but never give an example of residents changing the plan. Include one. Another common gap is ignoring power: nurses and universities hold data and funding, and residents notice. Address it. Some papers present partnership as smooth, although disagreement is normal. Describe how you would handle it. Finally, plan for the long term, since partners who are consulted once and then forgotten are unlikely to join again. Record who agreed to what after every meeting. Invite residents to lead parts of meetings early on.

Write yours, or have the desk draft it

This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.

More N489 and Pre-licensure BSN sample papers

N489 Module 7 questions, answered

What does N489 Module 7 usually ask for?

Aspen's N489 description ends its content with community partnership, so a paper on building a partnership for a health program is a typical assignment. Check your classroom for the prompt.

What are the principles of community-based partnership?

They include recognizing the community as a unit of identity, building on its strengths, equitable involvement of all partners, combining knowledge with action and long-term commitment.

How can a nurse build trust with community partners?

By listening before proposing, sharing data openly, crediting partners, following through on promises and accepting decisions the community makes.

Where can I find a free N489 Module 7 sample paper?

The partnership plan behind the walking groups is printed above, partner table and annotations included, without charge. It is the seventh N489 sample.

Who should be partners in an N489 Module 7 community program?

Organizations and people who reach the population and can change its conditions, such as churches, senior sites, city departments, clinics and residents themselves.