A parish nurse, also called faith community nurse, is a professional nurse who is called and committed to the healing ministry of the church.
What does a parish nurse do?
A parish nurse seeks to foster physical, emotional, spiritual, and social harmony leading to healthy and healing relationships with God, family, faith communities, culture and creation.
-Parish nurses screen for hypertension
-Present educational workshops on health topics such as breast cancer, diabetes, bone health, depression, advance directives and the like.
-Hosted flu shot clinics and blood drives on a church site
-Parish nurses have facilitated support groups for grief and weight loss.
-They counsel congregational members on medications, lifestyles, diagnostic tests to improve health and well-being.
-Visits to the homebound and members living in nursing homes
Is this only available to Christian congregations?
No – there are Jewish Congregational Nurses, Muslim Crescent Nurses, and registered nurses serving in similar capacities within other faith traditions as well.
How many parish nurses are there?
There are approximately 12,000 parish nurses in the United States of which about 35% are compensated for their ministry.
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