What Parish Nurses Can Do For Congregations

Look in most any book or just about any Web site concerning parish nursing and you'll find the following about what a parish nurse does:

Generally, parish nursing is a health promotion, disease prevention role based on the care of the whole person, which encompasses seven functions:

1. Integrator of faith and health
2. Health educator
3. Personal health counselor
4. Referral agent
5. Trainer of volunteers
6. Developer of support groups
7. Health advocate 

Specifically, a parish nurse can:

• Assess congregational health needs (e.g. the elderly, children, issues based on geography or income, etc.)
• Visit the sick, shut-ins, new mothers and bereaved, as requested by pastoral staff
• Coordinate volunteers and services
• Provide specific programming for individuals or groups (Blood pressure screenings, seniors, teens, shut-ins, etc.)
• Develop resource lists for referrals and services within the church and the community
• Coordinate support groups
• Provide individual or group counseling

These can play out in innumerable ways. Your own imagination and the needs of your congregation can take you most anywhere. However, the needs of your congregation must be the determining factors that provide direction in your ministry, or else your ministry will be somewhat irelevant.  

 

If you are new to parish nursing, always remember that building a ministry takes time--lots of time. Start with easy tasks, such as blood pressure screenings on Sunday mornings. Make yourself visible. Define your purpose for yourself and to your congregation. Do surveys or talk to leaders of your church, to church committees, and to your congregation to find out where you are most needed. Work closely with your pastor. 

 

References:
Samaritan Counseling Center Congregational Ministries of Health. Parish Nursing Certification Course. Lancaster, PA: 2008.