Often education programs in hospitals focus on educating current healthcare providers and offering health education to the community in health fairs or programs for targeted at-risk communities.Through its community outreach program, Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale has created a hybrid of the two by creating a Faith Community Nursing Program by partnering with different places of worship in Broward County. The initiative provides registered nurses within these congregations with education and information to create health ministry teams within their churches.
By building alliances between two healing communities – medical facilities and faith communities – faith community nurses focus on the intentional care of the spirit as part of the process of promoting holistic health and preventing or minimizing illness.
Holy Cross Hospital offers the program as a free service that is available to any religious organization regardless of denomination, size, race and ethnicity.
Many registered nurses are already helping their congregations. Holy Cross works with these nurses to offer education, at no cost to them, to become certified as a Faith Community Nurse.
We follow the American Nurses Association (ANA) scope and standards of practice for Faith Community Nursing. The ANA designated Faith Community Nursing as a specialty practice. The training and curriculum is conducted through the International Parish Nurse Resource Center. Taught worldwide by nurse educators who have attended special training, the foundation’s course provides nurses with the necessary training to perform as a Faith Community Nurse. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) offers a portfolio process for specialty certification.
Our program offers a monthly meeting during which contact hours are offered and which cover such topics as advance directives and end-of-life care.
Part of our parish nurses’ responsibilities are directing people to appropriate providers, linking them to primary medical homes and identifying resources to meet their health needs. Services include health education and emotional support, health care management, health assessments, observation and referrals into care.
Our nurses are taught how to do an assessment of their congregations including an anonymous survey to find out their health concerns. For instance, the men at one church were interested in hypertension, so we arranged for a male speaker and male physician to talk to them about the causes and effects of hypertension.
Another faith community nurse was surprised to discover a top concern among the female members of her church was stress incontinence. Yet another church wanted to start a walking group.
Through the program, health fairs have been presented that benefit congregations and spread vital information out into the community. The program promotes health and wellness for seniors and vulnerable populations in our community including the homeless and those who lack access to health care.
Through partnerships with community agencies, clinics and the places of worship, the program provides opportunities to socialize, be with peers and improve relationships.
Faith community nurses assist each community to develop their vision for promoting health as wholeness in the context of the values, beliefs and practices of their faith tradition and to provide support for implementing and sustaining their vision.
The majority of faith community nurses who I have the privilege to work with are not paid and are going the extra mile to give back to their congregations as a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities.
As population management begins to become the prevalent healthcare model, resources such as faith community nurses will continue to play an ever increasing role.
