What
is Parish Nursing?
Parish Nursing promotes wellness in the body of believers
– individually and in the community of faith. Parish
Nursing is a blend of nursing and faith.
A Parish Nurse is not a provider of hands on care and does
not replace any health care services. Nor is the nurse a substitute
for pastoral care, medical care, or social agencies but rather
works in partnership with these services. Who
is a Parish Nurse?
A parish nurse is a currently licensed registered nurse
who facilitates the health of a faith community and in so
doing, expands the healing ministry of Jesus Christ in the
church.
The focus of the nurse is on the physical, emotional, and
spiritual dimension of persons as they strive to achieve
wellness, wholeness, and manage illness. A parish nurse’s
functions are integrated in five areas:
1. Integrator of Faith & Health
2. Health Educator
3. Health Counselor
4. Referral Source and Liaison to Community Resources
5. Coordinator and Educator of volunteers.
Considering the first function, the spiritual
dimension is central to parish nursing practice.
Integrating faith and health defines Parish Nursing. The
Parish Nurse can provide a prayerful presence during times
of crisis and times of celebration.
Personal spiritual formation is essential
for the parish nurse. The practice holds that all persons
are sacred and must be treated with respect and dignity.
Compelled by these beliefs, the Parish Nurse assists and
empowers individuals, families, and communities to become
more active partners in the management of their personal
health resources.
Spiritual health is central to well
being and influences a person’s entire being. Well
being can exist in the presence of disease. Healing can
exist the absence of a cure.
The parish nurse, in collaboration with the pastoral staff
and congregants, participates in the ongoing transformation
of the faith community into a source of health and healing.
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