What exactly is parish nursing?

rnrncan · Apr 21, 2003

Parish Nursing: a speciality practice and professional model of health ministry. A Parish Nurse is an experienced registered nurse in good standing with the Professional governing body or association. A Parish Nurse links faith and health to combine professional nursing with Christian ministry. The Christian Church mandate is to preach, to teach and to heal.

I believe there are also some Jewish Parish Nurses as well although I haven't met any as of yet.

Hope this is helpful. Do a internet seach and you will find hundreds of entries.

renerian, BSN, RN · Apr 22, 2003

My mother in law is a parish retired nurse. She ministers to the sick and helps them access different service in the community. She also does blood pressure and blood sugar screenings.

renerian

Artis · Jun 3, 2005

Yes thanks, so much. I am really interested in this field. I will have to more research and thanks for your tips.:Melody:

Parish Nursing: a speciality practice and professional model of health ministry. A Parish Nurse is an experienced registered nurse in good standing with the Professional governing body or association. A Parish Nurse links faith and health to combine professional nursing with Christian ministry. The Christian Church mandate is to preach, to teach and to heal.
I believe there are also some Jewish Parish Nurses as well although I haven't met any as of yet.
Hope this is helpful. Do a internet seach and you will find hundreds of entries.

VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN · Jun 4, 2005

Here is a website with wonderful and thorough information concerning parish/ faith-based nursing:

http://www.ihwassoc.org/nursing.html

Roles: Parish nurses function within the parameters of seven (7) major roles. These are:
Health Educator - focusing on a variety of educational activities for all ages that explore the relationship between values, attitudes, lifestyle, faith and health.
Personal Health Counselor - assisting individuals to deal with health issues and problems and may include hospital, home, nursing home, etc. visits.
Referral Agent - providing congregational and community resources for healing and wellness.
Health Advocate - encouraging all systems (congregant, faith community, primary health resources) to find the best solution for healing and wholeness - body, mind and spirit.
Facilitator of Volunteers - recruiting and coordinating resources within the faith community to serve in its various health ministries.
Developer of Support Groups - facilitating the development of support groups to meet member needs and those of the external community.
Integrator of Faith and Health - seeking, in all activities and contacts, to promote the understanding of the relationship between faith and health

Other resources:

http://www.ipnrc.parishnurses.org/

Artis · Jun 4, 2005

Thank you , I think this is it. I want to be a Parish Nurse. GOd Bless You!!:Melody:

Here is a website with wonderful and thorough information concerning parish/ faith-based nursing:
http://www.ihwassoc.org/nursing.html
Other resources:
http://www.ipnrc.parishnurses.org/

VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN · Jun 11, 2005

Here's another good article about parish nursing:

From Dream to Reality: How a Parish Nurse Program Is Born by Sarah P. Farrell and Dawn B. Rigney

Thinking about a parish nurse ministry? Eleven parish nurses share the ups and downs of getting started, revealing 5 phases of program development.

http://www.intervarsity.org/ncf/jcn/archive/05sp/summaries.html#34

monnelise · Jun 28, 2005

artis, I dont know where you live but Azusa Pacific University has a parish nursing program.

RetiredMSN · Aug 5, 2005

Artis, Just keep in mind you probably will not be able to make a living for a while in this wonderful, fulfilling role. The best thing is to do a lot of reading and get all the information you can on the subject and the role of the nurse in the church and with the congregation. Determine if your church could use this position and these services. Consult with your pastor and other leaders to determine level of interest. Then draw up an action plan based on your readings. This will lead you to present the program as a volunteer service to your church board or leadership team. If they accept the idea, then it will be presented to the congregation for approval & you are off.

Select a committee to help, get them elected by the church, lead them in planning the program based on your readings. It's fun, it's a start, and when the church sees how valuable the services are, you may be able to sell them on the idea of paying for a nurse on staff after 2-3 years. Or, you may want to write for a grant to pay for the nurse initially, hoping the congregation will assume more responsibility after a couple of years. Certainly after 1 yr., they may at least be willing to pay for you to attend a course if you are interested in being the nurse to serve in that role.

This is pretty much what I did, and the Congregational Health Program is pretty well established in our church now, in our third yr. However it is all volunteer. It is my personal goal to try to get a paid nurse on staff within 5 yrs., one way or the other. I am retired and am not interested in being part or full time any more.

Hang in there...make and keep goals, keep your faith, follow God's leading.

RetiredMSN:coollook:

smsrnbsn · Oct 23, 2005

So glad there are other nurses interested in learning about parish nursing.

A parish nurse is: 1. A health educator; 2) a personal health counselor; 3) a teacher of volunteers; 4) a laison with community health organizations; 5)a clairifier of the close relationship between faith and health; 6) most importantly a client advocate.

The basic requirements are: BE a registered professional nurse with a current nursing license; and have a baccalaureate degree and two years working in the health field. Experience in any of the following is beneficial: public health, ecducation, nursing homes or care centers, physician's office, school nurse in public schools, medical-surgical nurse, or emergency-outpatinet nurse. The most important qualification is a high degree of spiritual maturity. It is crucial tha the nurse have a talent for counseling.

The nurse's main objectives are to help people assume responsibility for their own health and to help them grasp new insights about the many causes of illness. This entails considerable teaching and the development of various support groups. It is the responsibillity of the parish to create interest in a variety of health-related programs. Aside from B/P checks, parish nurses generally do not give "hands on" care.

There is certification given after completing a training which can be done on the internet or at a local college or university that offers it. University of Indiana gives them over the internet. Its a six week course complete with readings, assignments and written work to be evaluated.

The difference in the parish nurse (PN) as oppose to the faith ministry nurse (FMN) is that the parish nurse extends her role outside the congregation to the surrounding parish. The FMN contains herself strictly to the congregation. Many synogogue nurse's are FMN's since the the word "parish" has been associated over the years to Christian churches. PN's are more akin to public health nurses.

I hope this answers some of your questions.:balloons:

hdnacres · Mar 5, 2006

Parish Nursing,

Is Parish Nursing a paid position? I am currently taking a community health class in my B.S. nursing program. We were just talking about Parish nursing and I got the impression it was a volunteer position in most areas?

I think that RN's who are interested in this field should know this.

Does anyone know for sure?

RetiredMSN · Mar 6, 2006

hdnacres, as one of the previous posts points out, most of the time being a Parish Nurse is volunteer. However, some medical centers and hospitals have programs where they arrange with churches to provide Parish Nurses over a period of time, usually 3-5 years. The medical center pays the salary of the Parish Nurse the 1st year, then in decreasing increments over the 3-5 years with the plan that the church will take over full salary by the end of that time. That's the catch. Many times churches just don't have budgets that will accommodate this type of staff member. So, if one wants to get paid to do this highly satisfying and rewarding type of nursing, you have to search for a large congregation that is committed to promoting the health of its congregation and understands the great value of the professional contributions of the Parish Nurse, or work for the medical center that contracts for the services.

Some churches in my area actually pay for a part time Parish Nurse to be on their staff as an employee, with performance evaluations and the whole bit. However, probably 9 out of the 10 I know are volunteer. I am volunteer and probably put in 5-10 hours a week on a program I developed. It could easily become a full-time job, but I purposefully prevent it from becoming that. I am now taking a Basic Parish Nurse Preparation course that my church is paying for however, so progress is being made. At this stage of this field of practice, one really cannot make it a career until they're retired.

Answer your question? RetiredMSN