Retired nurse wants to become a Parish Nurse

Dear Nurse Beth Advice Column - The following letter submitted anonymously in search for answers. Join the conversation!

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Where can I take a class in parish or Chaplin nurse. I am a retire nurse after 28 yes and want to help patients in the hospital or homes who need spiritual care. Thank you 

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.

What a wonderful direction to pursue at this stage of your life. Hopefully, I can give you some resources to get you started.

Parish Nursing is a specialty within the field of professional nursing, officially acknowledged by the American Nursing Association as Faith Community Nursing (FCN).

Allnurses Parish Nursing Speciality Forum

There is a Parish Nursing forum here on allnurses. It's worth perusing for information. Here's an example of a helpful post from Jeastridge, BSN, RN, a Parish Nurse/Faith Community Nurse: 

Hello! I hope I can help. I have been a Parish Nurse/Faith Community Nurse for 20+ years and continue to love this ministry as a wonderful way to serve and to put my nursing skills to good use. I think if I were in your position, I would start by looking over the Westburg Institute Website. They are located in Memphis. There is an annual symposium in April and you also might consider doing that. You can take an online course to train in how to be a FCN--there are many available. There is, of course, a cost but it's a great way to get started. 

The Spiritual Care Association

Look into The Spiritual Care Association . It's accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation (ANCC). They offer several educational courses, such as:

  • Spirituality and aging course for nurses and social workers
  • What every healthcare professional needs to know about spiritual care

These course descriptions look fantastic—I almost enrolled! However, they seem suited to a practicing nurse seeking skills and knowledge rather than FCN training, so I looked further.

FCN Training

The Spiritual Care Association has a Nursing Division of the Spiritual Care Association that partners with the  Westberg Institute of Faith Community Nursing, endorsed by Jeastridge above.

Finally, what you may be looking for is FCN training. The Foundations of Faith Community Nursing Course  is offered by Westberg. It's a 39 hour course that prepares you to be an FCN. 

I hope this helps you get started. I'm excited for you.

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

 

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