Parish Nurse Program
 

We are blessed to have a Parish Nurse Program at our church. A Parish Nurse Program is defined as "the specialized practice of professional nursing that focuses on the intentional care of the spirit as part of the process of promoting holistic health and preventing or minimizing illness in a faith community."

Parish Nurses identify and promote opportunities to enhance the relationship of faith and health within the context of the values, beliefs and practices of the faith community. They nurture the client's faith system and practices that enhance health, such as forgiveness, meditation and prayer. By having services within a trusted community , Parish Nurses provide access to professional health services with special attention to preventative health screenings, monitoring chronic conditions, and increased health education to keep overall health care costs low.

Parish Nurses are:

• Health educators, providing members with information on health conditions, treatments and prevention.

• Health counselors who listen and respond to health concerns of individuals and their families. They cover concerns such as medications, blood pressure, nutrition, weight control and end-of-life issues. Parish Nurses do not duplicate services of other health professionals and do not do such things as giving injections or providing wound care.

• Referral sources for health services. They link the member's needs with resources in the community and assist them in accessing these services.

• Advocates for members who have difficulty in receiving adequate health services. They may accompany individuals to hospitals and visits to medical professionals, meet with families to plan care of individual or to counsel members; as well as conduct home, hospital, and nursing home visits to monitor health status, provide emotional support, encourage compliance with medical treatment, and recommend community services.

• Program facilitators and leaders, who assist congregations in mobilizing the gifts, talents and energies of its members to contribute to the health and healing mission of the congregation.

For more information on the Parish Nurse Program and its scope of services, please send an e-mail, or contact the church office at (914) 769-0458. Our parish nurse will return your call.