| Course | NUR-4420 Nursing Care in the Community |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 2 |
| Paper type | Community assessment |
| Length | About 1,014 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | Accelerated B.S.N. Program |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 4420 Module 2
Three Ways of Seeing Trenton: A Community Assessment From Census Tables, Health Survey Estimates and a Windshield Survey
Student Name
Accelerated B.S.N. Program, Thomas Edison State University
NUR-4420: Nursing Care in the Community
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Three Ways of Seeing Trenton: A Community Assessment From Census Tables, Health Survey Estimates and a Windshield Survey
The second module asks for a community assessment that combines published data with direct observation. My community is the city of Trenton, New Jersey, where my clinical placement is based at a food pantry in the East Ward. Following the community as partner model of Anderson and McFarlane (2019), I gathered data on the community core and its subsystems from three sources: census estimates, model-based health survey estimates, and a windshield survey of the neighborhoods around the pantry. This paper reports what each source showed, compares Trenton with surrounding Mercer County where the comparison is meaningful, and explains what each source would have missed on its own.
Census Data: The Community Core and Economy
Pooled census survey estimates covering 2020 through 2024 describe a city of about 90,300 people (U.S. Census Bureau, 2025). Nearly half of residents, 46.4 percent, identify as Hispanic or Latino, 40.0 percent as non-Hispanic Black and 10.6 percent as non-Hispanic White, a very different composition from Mercer County as a whole. Economic indicators show the sharpest contrast. The poverty rate is 21.6 percent in Trenton, compared with 10.3 percent in the county, and median household income is about $52,500, roughly half the county median of about $100,600. Housing and transportation data point the same way: 62.1 percent of occupied homes are rented, compared with 37.8 percent countywide, and 26.7 percent of households have no vehicle, compared with 11.2 percent.
Census data are strong on who lives in a place and on its economic conditions, and they are collected the same way everywhere, which makes comparisons fair. They are weak on health, on how people experience their neighborhood and on recent change, since five-year estimates pool several years.
| Indicator | Trenton | Mercer County | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | About 90,300 | About 385,900 | Census, 2020-2024 |
| Poverty rate | 21.6% | 10.3% | Census, 2020-2024 |
| Median household income | About $52,500 | About $100,600 | Census, 2020-2024 |
| Renter-occupied homes | 62.1% | 37.8% | Census, 2020-2024 |
| Households with no vehicle | 26.7% | 11.2% | Census, 2020-2024 |
| Adults 18 to 64 without health insurance | 25.0% | Not compared | CDC PLACES, 2023 |
| Adults with food insecurity | 37.3% | Not compared | CDC PLACES, 2023 |
| Adults with diagnosed diabetes (age-adjusted) | 16.3% | Not compared | CDC PLACES, 2023 |
Health Survey Estimates: Health and Social Services
Model-based estimates for 2023 from the PLACES project add health and social needs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2025). For Trenton adults, the age-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed diabetes is 16.3 percent, high blood pressure 37.4 percent, current asthma 10.4 percent and current smoking 17.7 percent. One in four adults aged eighteen to sixty-four lacks health insurance. Social needs are just as striking: 37.3 percent of adults report food insecurity, 30.3 percent housing insecurity, 17.9 percent a lack of reliable transportation and 37.1 percent loneliness. Dental care is a notable gap, with fewer than half of adults reporting a dental visit in the past year.
These estimates are modeled from a national telephone survey combined with census data, so they are not counts of individuals and carry uncertainty, but they cover dozens of measures for every city in the country. Their weakness is that they say nothing about why the numbers are what they are, or what residents think should be done.
Windshield Survey: Physical Environment, Transportation and Recreation
A windshield survey is a structured observation of a community made while walking or driving through it. I walked a twelve-block loop around the pantry on a weekday afternoon and drove the main corridors on a Saturday, recording observations against the model's subsystems. The housing stock is mostly brick row houses, many divided into apartments; on several blocks one or two houses in every five were boarded up. Corner stores outnumbered full-service groceries by a wide margin, and the nearest supermarket I found was a bus ride away. Bus stops had riders waiting at every hour I passed, including parents with strollers. There were churches on almost every second block, several with Spanish-language signs, and two small parks, one with a new playground and one with broken equipment.
The windshield survey added what the tables could not: the condition of the housing behind the rental figure, the distance to fresh food behind the food insecurity figure, and the density of faith communities, which is a strength no table measures. Its weakness is subjectivity; two observers walking the same blocks could notice different things, and an afternoon is a narrow window. I tried to reduce that by using the model's subsystems as a checklist and by repeating the route on a different day.
I also spoke briefly with two people the pantry staff introduced me to: a pastor whose congregation runs an evening English class and a mother who volunteers at the pantry every week. Both named the same two problems before I asked about either, the cost of rent and the difficulty of getting a doctor's appointment without a car or a day off. Two conversations are not a survey, but they confirmed that the patterns in the tables are the ones residents themselves experience, and they pointed to the church and the pantry as trusted places where any health effort would need to start.
What the Three Sources Show Together
Each source alone would have misled. The census alone would have described poverty without its effect on health. The survey estimates alone would have shown high diabetes and food insecurity without the corner-store food environment that helps explain them. The windshield survey alone would have been a set of impressions without scale. Together they describe a community under economic stress, with high chronic disease and social need, limited transportation and food access, and real strengths in its churches and family networks. Healthy People 2030 places economic stability, education, health care access, the neighborhood people live in, and their social ties at the center of health (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2020), and Trenton's data touch all five. The next step, in Module 3, is to identify which groups within this community carry the heaviest burden and what keeps them from care.
References
Anderson, E. T., & McFarlane, J. (2019). Community as partner: Theory and practice in nursing (8th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). PLACES: Local data for better health, place data, 2025 release [Data set]. https://data.cdc.gov/500-Cities-Places/PLACES-Local-Data-for-Better-Health-Place-Data-202/eav7-hnsx
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2020). Social determinants of health. Healthy People 2030, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health
U.S. Census Bureau. (2025). American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, tables B03002, B08201, B17001, B19013 and B25003 [Data set]. https://data.census.gov/
NUR 4420 Module 2 instructions, in plain terms
The second module of NUR-4420 usually asks for a community assessment. Most versions of the prompt ask you to gather demographic, economic and health data from published sources, conduct a windshield survey or similar direct observation, organize findings by a model such as the community as partner subsystems, and compare your community with a larger area. Some sections also ask for an interview with a community member or leader. The TESU course site gives the specific requirements; check whether a data table is expected, which comparison area to use, and whether photographs are allowed. Name each data source and year, and keep observations respectful and specific. If you interview a resident or leader, record their role rather than their name.
How the NUR 4420 Module 2 example is put together
The paper opens by naming the community, the model and the three sources. The census section reports population, ethnicity, poverty, income, renting and vehicle access, compares Trenton with Mercer County and introduces a table that labels each figure with its source and year. The survey section reports health and social need estimates and explains how they are produced. The windshield section describes the route and timing and records observations by subsystem, including strengths such as faith communities. Each source section ends with that source's limitation. The final section shows what the three sources reveal together, links them to the Healthy People social determinants framework and points to the next module.
Where the marks sit in the NUR 4420 Module 2 rubric
Community assessments are typically graded on breadth and accuracy of data, use of credible current sources, quality of direct observation, organization by a recognized model, comparison with a larger area, and writing. Mentors check that figures are attributed correctly and labeled with the year, and that different sources are not mixed carelessly. The windshield survey earns full credit when observations are specific and organized by subsystem rather than impressionistic. Identifying strengths as well as problems is often required. Papers that explain the limitations of each data source tend to score higher than those that present numbers as unquestionable. Tables help but must agree with the text. Brief interviews, where included, are judged on whether they confirm or challenge the published data.
NUR 4420 Module 2 help from the desk
This assessment often goes wrong when a student reports a long list of national statistics instead of data for the actual community. Use city or county data from the census and CDC. Another frequent problem is a windshield survey written as general impressions, such as the area seemed poor; record specific observations tied to subsystems. Students also forget strengths, which the model requires. Mixing years or sources without saying so makes comparisons unreliable. Avoid stereotypes and describe conditions, not character. Keep any photographs free of identifiable people. If you need an assessment built for your own clinical community, the desk can gather the public data and draft it to your directions.
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 Thomas Edison State 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 NUR 4420 and Accelerated B.S.N. Program sample papers
- NUR 4420 Module 1: Community as Client Paper
- NUR 4420 Module 3: Vulnerable Population Analysis
- NUR 4420 Module 4: Community Care Settings Paper
- NUR 4420 Module 5: Community Diagnosis and Plan
- NUR 4420 Module 6: Community Project Evaluation
- NUR 4500 Module 4: Integrative Synthesis Paper
- NUR 3280 Module 2: Health History and Interview
NUR 4420 Module 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 4420 Module 2 sample paper?
The full community assessment is above, with its data table, references and margin notes. It assesses Trenton, New Jersey; use the same three sources and structure for your own community.
What is a windshield survey?
A structured observation of a community made by walking or driving through it, noting housing, businesses, services, transportation, recreation, people and signs of community life. Organizing observations by the subsystems of a model keeps the survey systematic.
Which data sources should I use in NUR-4420?
The American Community Survey for population, income, poverty, housing and transportation, CDC PLACES for model-based health estimates, and local health department or hospital community health needs assessments. State the year for every figure.
Should I compare my community with another area?
Most directions ask for a comparison, usually with the county or state. Comparison shows whether a figure is unusual. Use the same source and years for both areas so the comparison is fair.
How do I include community strengths?
Look for organizations, faith communities, schools, parks, family networks and local leaders, and note them in your windshield survey and interviews. Strengths are the resources an intervention will build on in later modules.