What do parish nurses do

Participates in the planning and providing of prayer and worship life of the congregation. Teaches and models the integration of faith and health into daily life. Personal Health Counselor Provides individual health counseling related to health maintenance, disease prevention or illness patterns.

Encourages the client through presence and spiritual support to express their faith beliefs and utilize them regularly especially in time of crisis and despair. Documents client assessment, nursing diagnosis, interventions and outcomes while maintaining confidential client record in accordance with the policy on documentation.

Promotes stewardship of the body emphasizing self care of the whole person. Collaborates with pastoral staff to plan for health education programming. Communicates with other health professionals as needed to meet the health needs of clients. Health Educator Utilizes information from asset and needs assessments of the congregation and surrounding community in planning for education programs.

Maintains records of educational programs, including objectives, content, evaluation, attendance and budget. Documents individual educational assessment diagnosis, interventions and outcomes.

Provides the pastor, health committee of the congregation, and other designated parties a summary evaluation of educational programs noting attendance and response of participants. Networks with appropriate resources in the community to secure educational program resources.

Provides consultation and acts as a health resource to other staff of the congregation. Trainer of Volunteers Identifies and recruits professional and lay volunteers who can be available to respond to the health related needs of members of the congregation. Facilitates and when appropriate, trains individuals to assume volunteer responsibilities to meet identified needs of the congregation. They may help to reduce hospital readmissions, support carers, show people how to make better use of the health service, signpost to other voluntary or statutory services, providing time, hospitality and a sense of belonging for people of all ages, all faiths and none.

They link with groups that use church buildings: parent-toddlers, asylum seekers, homeless people who sleep near the church buildings, the youth club, and the over-sixties groups. Through these they may promote health, reduce risk, encourage exercise and monitor weight gain or loss. They can follow up on someone who is not attending for treatment or who appears to be deteriorating; perhaps go with them to an appointment.

They may offer prayer with or for them, or refer to an alternative source of spiritual care if they prefer. Confidentiality, documentation and the interest of the patient are all in line with the NMC code of practice. The service that can be offered by the church varies according to the needs of the community; the hours available, competency and experience of the nurse, existence of other health professionals in the church who can support this ministry and the number of volunteers that come forward for training.

Some parish nurses are mental health trained and will focus on helping people with addictions or dementia. Others are paediatric nurses and work with children and parents.

Some spend more time with seniors, while those trained in cancer care may work principally with people undergoing treatment. All do some home visiting and most hold a clinic session, usually alongside another church activity like a community coffee shop.

All parish nurses are part-time and many still work for the rest of the week in the NHS. The hours they do for the church may count as NMC practice hours. The church is the 'employer', and provides line management, expenses, and pay, though most nurses offer voluntary time. Each nurse has a locally chosen spiritual mentor, and a professional mentor who may in future assist with the new revalidation procedure.

This, along with the initial training week, resources for practice and professional networking is paid for through church contributions to the national organisation.

Some GP practices have chaplaincy services that offer spiritual care. Referral to a parish nurse can provide a link to the local church, where practical resources to help in times of crisis can be found, where volunteers can be trained and coordinated.

Thus a patient can find hospitality, a sense of belonging and purpose in life, forgiveness and the strength to forgive, an opportunity to serve as well as to be served, someone to listen, someone to be friends with. This kind of care both supports the NHS and fulfils the mission of God. One GP surgery in rural Cambridgeshire gave some feedback:. She has become a source of comfort and support to some of our most vulnerable patients and her combination of care, competence and humanity have been of immense value to patients at some of the hardest times in their lives.

A study of how parish nursing enhances local mission was completed in Some 15 parish nurse churches were compared with 77 similar churches without a parish nurse. The range of missional interventions was increased in all four categories: spiritual, physical, mental and community health; more time was spent with people outside of the church; the number of volunteers trained and coordinated increased, and the profile of the church in the community was heightened.

All 15 ministers agreed the mission of the church had been enhanced through parish nursing, and most of them strongly agreed. If you are interested in learning more about parish nursing, please visit our website: www. There you will find step-by-step instructions on how to start a parish nurse program as well as many resources for you to use and ideas to keep you going. We also encourage you to complete an online parish nurse course offered by Wisconsin Lutheran College.

If you would like any more information about parish nursing or the online course, please e-mail us at welsnurses wels. We are here to support and encourage you as you serve the body of Christ.

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