by Kati Kluckman–Ault

If you needed to find a nurse, where would you look? You might think of several places — a clinic, a college, or a hospital — but the one place that you might not think to look is in a faith community. Yet, since the 1980s, an increasing number of nurses are serving in parishes.

What is a parish nurse, you ask? A parish nurse is not just a nurse who happens to be in a parish. He or she is a registered nurse, prepared and educated in this specialty practice, and committed to integrating health ministry and professional nursing in a congregational setting. They practice within the guidelines of the "Faith Community Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice" set out by the American Nurses Association and the Health Ministries Association.

While parish nursing might not be considered traditional nursing practice, it does in fact follow a long tradition of healers who care for the whole person. The role of the parish nurse takes its cue from historical religious healers — monks, nuns, deaconesses, and church nurses — those who integrated faith and health. Weaving spirituality into nursing is the foundation of this unique and holistic type of care. Parish nurses attend to the body, mind, and spirit of those they care for within the faith community.

Health is not static, but a dynamic process involving body, mind, and spirit. Parish nurses call people to participate in their own holistic health care and to move closer to God’s vision of health and wholeness. Parish nurses enjoy uniting their faith, their knowledge of health, and their call to serve God and God’s people. Together with the staff of a faith community, the parish nurse enables a congregation to be transformed (healed) and used to further the healing mission of the church.

How do the many roles of a parish nurse translate into what health ministry might look like in your setting? What would it mean in the day–to–day life of a congregation to have a parish nurse? Is your congregation being called to consider how it might live out a health ministry that is interwoven into its very fabric?

Here are some examples of how health ministry might look when a parish nurse is actively involved in the life of a congregation and community.

Please pray for our whole family. My mother is having surgery next week and we are all really scared. We don’t know what to do to get through this.
In this situation, a parish nurse will provide medical information while addressing the spiritual health of this family. Because the parish nurse can "translate" between the two languages of health care and spirituality, she can integrate the two issues for this family. The parish nurse can explain in understandable ways exactly what the surgical procedure might be like — and at the same time be an instrument of God’s presence with the members of the family. The parish nurse has an ongoing relationship with the family that enables her to be present for as long as it takes, unlike a busy hospital nurse. The parish nurse can pray with this family and encourage the congregation to be a spiritual support for them.

Pastor, when was the last time you took a day off?
The ELCA has embarked on a program to encourage and inform its rostered leaders in the ways that they can better care for themselves. A parish nurse can be a valuable asset in this program. For instance, noting that the pastor of the congregation has not had a day off this month is a clue to the level of stress that this leader is experiencing — and how that stress is affecting his or her body, mind, and spirit. The parish nurse is also in a good position to talk with the pastor about stress and self–care.

I feel like everyone around me has moved on since my wife died two months ago. We were married for over 40 years — I can’t get used to her being gone.
A parish nurse heard this kind of statement over and over. Family members received support and care immediately following the death of a loved one, but after a few weeks, many felt isolated and alone in their ongoing grief. This nurse organized a small group that met once a week at a nearby hospital. Here people found that others understood what it was like to have experienced that kind of life–changing loss. In the group they were given the space to cry, talk about it, and support each other. Through the support group this parish nurse found that many people discovered the path to healthy grieving. The group that started with about 10 people meeting once a week grew into several groups — some short–term, others ongoing. All the members found support in their grief. The nurse integrated spirituality with understanding and helped the participants reach greater wellness through their experiences with a loved one’s death.

What can we do to help the people at the hospital who are very sick or dying?
One parish nurse who serves a hospital organized a group of parishioners to knit and crochet prayer shawls for the critically ill or dying. Many who are sick or near death may feel that God is far removed, and they find it difficult to pray. When this parish nurse makes her rounds and sees someone in that situation, she can offer a prayer shawl that will wrap the person as if in the arms of God. The volunteers were enthusiastic about making prayer shawls. The nurse had hoped to give away 60 by the end of the first year, but with the help of the volunteers had distributed more than 100. She found that connecting volunteers and those in need comforts and benefits everyone involved.

Parish nursing has emerged at an exciting time. Some estimate that there are more than 10,000 parish nurses serving in the United States — at least that many have completed the curriculum offered by the International Parish Nurse Resource Center.

Some parish nurses serve in paid positions, and some are volunteers. They serve across denominational boundaries in rural, suburban, and urban congregations. Each congregation has its own personality and so does each health ministry. But one theme that seems to run through them all is the commitment to achieving the holistic wellness that God invites us to through our salvation in Jesus Christ. When we begin to achieve wholeness, we are then called to explore how we might share it within a congregation and with those around us so desperately in need of God’s healing love.

As you begin to consider how health ministry might work in your congregation, the first step is to pray for your congregation and its ministry. Read about and investigate health ministry. Pray. Speak to your pastor about the possibilities of such a ministry. Pray. Reflect on how God will use you in this ministry. Pray. Begin to gather others in your congregation who might hear a call to health ministry (hint: they do not have to be health care professionals). Pray. Together, this process can take months or even a year. God will work throughout this process — and it will look different in each congregation. Pray.

In much of his ministry, Jesus was involved in restoring the health and well-being of the people he met. This mission is no less important for us today. God is calling our congregations to act boldly and be about the work of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and his message of mental, physical, and spiritual wholeness.

Kati Kluckman–Ault lives in Baltimore, Md., with her husband and children. She serves at Amazing Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church as parish nurse and is a member of the Lutheran Deaconess Conference.

INFORMATION ONLINE
The International Parish Nurse Resource Center
www.parishnurses.org

Parish Nursing Health Information Resources
www.parishnursing.umaryland.edu

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
www.elca.org/dcs/healthmin.html

SUGGESTED READING
Health, Healing & Wholeness: Engaging Congregations in Ministries of Health by Mary Chase–Ziolek (Pilgrim, 2005)

The Essential Parish Nurse: ABCs for Congregational Health Ministry by Deborah L. Patterson (Pilgrim, 2003)

The Healing Church: Practical Programs for Health Ministries by Abigail Rian Evans (United Church Press, 1999)