Parish nurses ministerto body, mind and spiritby Ana WattsIsabel Cutler and Beth Lawson have found a way to marry their skills as health care professionals and their Christian faith. As parish nurses they minister to body, mind and spirit. Their health ministries grow  out of a belief that
the church is a place of health and healing.“It really is all about holistic health,” says Isabel, “mind, body and soul.”  “There was a time
when health and spirituality were considered two different things,”
says Beth. “You know, medicine and religion. Now we’re trying to make
them complementary aspects of whole person health care.” The Parish Nursing concept isn’t totally foreign in this diocese –– St. Margaret’s Parish in Fredericton has had a program for the past eight years –– but now it is spreading throughout the province and diocese. There are seven InterChurch Health Ministries (ICHM) parish nursing ministry affiliates in New Brunswick (not counting St. Margaret’s). Two of those seven are Anglican. Last fall Isabel and Beth began their official Parish Nursing ministries at Christ Church Cathedral (Fredericton) and Trinity Church (Saint John) respectively. They also signed-on with the Parish Nursing Ministry Education Program sponsored by New Brunswick Parish Nursing Ministries in partnership with ICHM of Ontario and the International Parish Nurse Resource Center, St. Louis, Missouri. “We offered this program because we believe in its principles and we want to make sure that nurses in our New Brunswick churches are well prepared to launch into parish nursing ministries,” says Nancy Wiggins, regional coordinator for New Brunswick Parish Nursing Ministries, a founder of the parish nursing ministry at St. Margaret’s, and a retired professor of nursing from the University of New Brunswick. Isabel and Beth are now putting their recent training and their life-long professional and faith experience to work in their respective parishes. Isabel is a labour and delivery nurse who has spent years volunteering in Christian education, spiritual growth ministries and on the pastoral care team at the Cathedral. Over the past year or so she and others in the Cathedral congregation identified a need for a health ministry. “In all this the congregation must lead,” says Isabel. “The ministry is all based on need.” A needs-assessment form sent to every member of the congregation –– that’s every individual, not every family –– elicited a good and positive response. “We formed a health ministry team to direct the ministry, set a direction for what we were going to do,” says Isabel. “As I said, the ministry is to the congregation as a whole as well as to individuals. We have more than 40 health care professionals in our congregation so there are a lot of people with a lot to offer.” According to Dean Keith Joyce, Isabel’s own discernment process looking toward the ordained ministry actually triggered the Parish Nursing focus of the health ministry team. The farther she went along the ordination track, the more uncomfortable she became, says the Dean. Her background and education made her the ideal parish nurse rather than a lay pastoral assistant. And now she is peaceful. Isabel gives eight hours a week to her Parish Nursing ministry for which she receives a modest stipend. She has a cozy office in Cathedral Memorial Hall where she spends most Tuesdays and is happy to meet with people. She is also available for home visits. As Parish Nurse she coordinates the Cathedral Health Ministry program, is a health educator and small group facilitator, offers personal health counselling and referrals to appropriate community agencies, among other things. “My work is similar to that of a public health or community nurse,” says Isabel. “I don’t duplicate what the existing health care system offers, but I use the services and make appropriate referrals.” The Parish Nursing Ministry at Trinity Church is the long-time dream of its rector, Archdeacon Stuart Allan who often encounters situations he doesn’t feel able to manage and address when he visits elderly parishioners. He inspired retired nurse Claire Cleary to investigate parish nursing for their parish. She liked what she saw and in 2003 formed the Trinity Parish Nursing Health Ministry team with the goal of hiring a registered nurse with the knowledge, skills and faith to do the job. Beth was hired in September of 2005. She is a devout Roman Catholic who prepared for pastoral ministry through a two-year Lay Formation Program. She devotes 20 hours a week to her part-time position at Trinity. “I work Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the church and I attend service on Sunday because that’s really where most of the congregation gets to see me, to see who I am. There’s a social hour after the service and people come and address things with me then.” She has held blood pressure clinics and a breast cancer information session. She too refers patients to appropriate agencies and health services, advocates, counsels, educates and advises. The four weekends of intensive training that Isabel and Beth took started in Moncton where the Rev. Tom Doherty, ICHM executive director, introduced the program, explored the role of the congregation in health, healing and wholeness and discussed theology and health. A few weeks later in Bathurst, parish nurse coordinator Gail Brimbecom conducted an overview of the history and philosophy of parish nursing and offered spiritual assessment. Dr. Anne Simmonds, a nurse as well as a United Church minister, addressed spirituality and religion, spiritual care and personal health counselling at the third weekend session held in Saint John. ICHM education director Valerie Jenkins travelled to Fredericton to lead the final weekend of study. She addressed health education, the role of the parish health cabinet/team and offered practical advice on start-up. Last fall’s training sessions gave its 40 participants -- nurses, clergy and health committee team members, level one certification in the Basic Parish Nurse Education Program. Next year level one will be re-offered for new students and level two will be added for this year’s graduates. The following year and thereafter, all three levels of training will be offered. 31
January 2006
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