Nurse w/ MA Pastoral Ministry?

amoLucia · Oct 2, 2017

Please, may I ask how/what you plan to do with your nsg education? Unless you've experience as an EMT or medic you've no practical nsg experience.

Personally, (and I say PERSONALLY) I don't see where any nsg facility could use your skills. As a counselor or for pastoral services in a hospital, hospice, NH environment, you' be relying on your past minister experiences & education. And they already have people for those positions.

You have NO experienced clinical nsg skills - that's what facilities require. You would be hired at an entry level with entry job description, entry pay, entry scheduling, etc.

Unless you somehow fall into some very exceptional unique position ...

Now if nsg is your desired goal and general entry hands-on is what you've been expecting, then I can understand that. But I really don't see any duality.

Psych nsg might be a direction, but I doubt you'll find the nsg experience to allow you the opp'ty to counsel/advise, etc

There is a specialty of pastoral nsg, but I don't know much about it. There is a room here in AN for the specialty.

JMO. Good luck with your future endeavors.

Thanksforthedonuts, MSN, APRN · Oct 3, 2017

I feel the previous poster was a bit too tough in their response.

While it is true, a DEGREE pastoral ministry will not help give you a leg up in achieving a position, BUT God will í ½í¸‰.

So the degree won't help you per say but neither will it hurt you. I don't really see how you can add it to your resume as it is not quite relevant to the field you are entering UNLESS you join parish nursing, hospice nursing, school nursing for faith based school, or *maybe* if you are seeking a position within a faith based institution.

So here on the West Coast we have the Providence Health care system and you can always add in your interview (when you get there) how your mission might (I assume it will to some point) align with theirs and so forth...

Hospice nursing for a faith based institution might favor you, however most already have their own chaplains who play their own role within the health care team.

I would keep looking! Maybe you can be of use as a camp nurse?

Many ways you can spin this...

Parker Tubman · May 26

Hello happypolarbear

I'm also interested in a similar pursuit as you. Are you a male nurse and male pastor doing this?

I'm a man who's going back to school for nursing however I have thought about doing the same as you are: working in nursing as a complimentary career to do a ministry position one day such as pastoral ministry.

Your story is very interesting to see and it encourages me consider nursing to do part time while doing part time ministry. It seems like since you're doing this MA in Pastoral Ministry and working as a nurse, it looks like it is possible to do both nursing and ministry.

Also how has your journey been so far through this pursuit?

Thanks.

parkersteven

vampiregirl, BSN, RN · Jun 9

I have 2 friends who are both nurses and have a pastoral degree; both work in hospice and I believe both also have done parish nursing. They are both very highly respected by their colleagues and patients. Both are very professional but bring a sense of calm with them.

While you may not have a nursing background, everyone starts as a new nurse. Nursing skill sets related to a specific area of practice can be taught. Strong interpersonal skills and critical thinking are things that can't be taught but instead are developed over time.

I would encourage you to list your previous education/ experience in some fashion as it would support strong interpersonal skills which are an important part of nursing. If critical thinking skills were relevant to any of your previous positions, then this would also be something to highlight. Think of other relevant skills that your applied in previous positions and figure out a way to include this as well (assessment, problem solving, high stress situations) - these can all be relevant to nursing practice,