Nursing in the Faith

Community

Natalie Terry & Hilary Thomas

What is Nursing in the Faith Community?

• Referred to as a faith community nurse or “FCN”

• Used to be called “parish” nurses

• Specialize in integrating spiritual and physical assessments and needs

• Function in a variety of ways

• Sometimes found in faith-based hospitals or other faith-based community resources

• Most commonly hired and paid by a church to take care of medical needs for a specific

congregation

Historical Background

• Historically, church communities have cared for underserved and disenfranchised by meeting basic human needs.

• The majority of the world’s population belong to organized faith communities

• 2 billion Christians worldwide

• 1.5 billion Muslims

• 900 million Hindus

• 380 million Buddhists

Religion and Health

• Williams & Strenthal (2007) meta-analysis study identified benefits to health

related to spirituality and religiosity of individuals.

• Lower levels of anxiety and depression (147 studies)

• Improved coping (49 studies)

• Decreased stress (17 studies)

Religion and Health

Religious Involvement

Healthy Behaviors

Social Support

Positive Emotions

Improved Health

Modern Faith Community Nursing

• Granger Westberg

• Founder of the modern FCN movement

• 1984

• Proposed the first parish nurse program to the Lutheran General Hospital in Chicago, IL

• Partnership between hospitals and churches

• 1985

• First FCNs were hired

• Coordinated care between chaplains and nurses, enhancing nurses skills in counseling, education, and spiritual assessments

Modern Faith Community Nursing

• American Nurses Association

• 1998

• First publication regarding parish nursing called Scope and Standards of Parish Nurse Practice

• Officially recognized the practice as a nursing specialty

• 2005

• Changed name from parish nurse to faith community nurse (FCN)

• Revised standards, provided clearer definition of FCN nursing practice

• Now practiced in more than 23 countries

Role of the Faith Community Nurse

Faith Community

Nurse

Referral Agent

Health Educator

Health Counselor

Health Advocate

Volunteer Coordinator

Facilitator

Support Groups

Health & Healing

Integration

Spiritual Care

• Spirituality

• “The human desire for a sense of meaning and purpose, connection, and fulfillment through intimate relationships and life experiences”

• Spiritual distress

• “Disruption of a life principle that pervades a person’s entire being and integrates and transcends one’s biological and psychosocial nature”

• NANDA Nursing Diagnosis

• Must be addressed through focused care

CIRCLE Model of Spiritual Care

• Caring

• Intuition

• Respect for religious beliefs and practices

• Caution

• Listening

• Emotional support

FCN Specialty Areas

1. Care of Vulnerable Populations

2. End of Life Issues: Grief and Loss

3. Family Violence Prevention

Care of Vulnerable Populations

Homeless

Disaster Response

Refugees

End of Life

• Partner with hospice and home care nurses in providing palliative care.

• Patient and family education

• Process of hospice and palliative care

• Drawing up living wills

• Establishing health care surrogates

• Emotional support

• Providing home visits

• Developing grief support groups

Family Violence Prevention

• Healthy People 2020

• Education and prevention of family violence

• FCN implement standard nursing interventions for the following scenarios

• Intimate partner violence (IPV) or “domestic violence”

• Child abuse

• Elder abuse

• Typically the FCN is a member of the congregation and will have better insight to be able to recognize signs and symptoms of abuse among the population.

Confidentiality & Accountability

• Faith community nurses are accountable to the state boards of nursing

• Must follow same HIPAA guidelines for patient privacy

• Must obtain consent

• Must protect client’s privacy while participating in the same congregation

• Distinguished roles

• Parish nurse does not act in the role of the minister/priest

• Should not accept confessions or claim divine healing power

• Volunteers and paid employees held to the same standard

Discussion Questions

1. Faith community nursing is a less common nurse specialty and is a largely

under-discussed topic in the nursing profession. What did you learn or what

surprised you about the role and responsibilities of the faith community

nurse?

2. What additional resources have you found that links religion and health? Is

the information consistent with what Williams & Strenthal discovered in

their meta-analysis?