Faith Community Nursing

Faith Community Nursing, also known as Parish Nursing, Congregational Nursing or Church Nursing, is a movement of over 10,000 registered nurses, primarily in the United States and Canada, but growing in numbers in the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, is the intentional integration of the practice of faith with the practice of nursing so that people can achieve wholeness in, with, and through the community of faith in which faith community nurses serve.

Faith Community Nursing (FCN) is recognized as a specialty nursing practice. Faith Community Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice was approved by the American Nurses Association in 2005 and define the specialty as "...the specialized practice of professional nursing that focuses on the intentional care of the spirit as part of the process of promoting wholistic health and preventing or minimizing illness in a faith community." (American Nurses Association, 2005, Faith Community Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, Silver Springs, MD: Author, p1)

There are five assumptions which underlie faith community nursing: 1. Health and illness are human experiences. 2. Health is the integration of the spirtual, physical, psychological, and social aspects of the patient promoting a sense of harmony with self, others, the environment, and a higher power. 3. Health may be experienced in the presence of disease or injury. 4. The presence of illness does not preclude health nor does optimal health preclude illness. 5. Healing is the process of integrating the body, mind, spirit, to create wholeness, health, and a sense of well-being, even when the patient's illness can not be cured. (ANA, 2005, FCN: S&S, p3)

Faith community nurses educate and activate people to take positive action regarding wellness, prevention, appropriate treatment of illness, and mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health within their local community, neighborhood, and world.

The roles of a faith community nurse usually include the following:


 * Integrator of Faith and Health - A faith community nurse assists faith community members to achieve higher levels of wellness by improving both their spiritual and physical health.


 * Health Educator - Faith community nurses are available for health education, and provide opportunities to learn about health issues, individually and in groups.


 * Health Counselor - A faith community nurse is available to discuss health concerns, emphasizing early response to small problems and encouraging healthy lifestyles.


 * Referral Advisor - A faith community nurse is available to provide referrals to healthcare and social services within the community upon request.
 * Health Advocate - A faith community nurse speaks out to help obtain needed health-related services.


 * Developer of Support Groups - A fatih community nurse facilitates the development of support groups for the faith community and others served.


 * Volunteer Coordinator - A faith community nurse recruits, prepares and oversees volunteers who help those in need.

Resources for Faith Community Nurses
These organizations help to support faith community nursing and serve a wide variety of faith communities:


 * International Parish Nurse Resource Center
 * Health Ministries Association
 * Canadian Association for Parish Nursing Ministry
 * Australian Faith Community Nurses Association
 * Australian Parish Nurse Resource Center
 * New Zealand Faith Community Nurses Association
 * Parish Nursing Ministries UK