Parish Nursing: Promoting Health Within Faith Communities

Parish nursing is a "nursing specialty that focuses on promoting health within faith communities, ministering to the parishioners' physical, emotional and spiritual needs" ("What Is Parish Nursing," 2007). I selected the St. Mary's parish to visit, as it was near my home and did have parish nurses. In talking to parish nurses there, I found that they considered their role as one of ministering comfort and limited medical care in conjunction with medical care provided by a physician. They saw the connection between a patient's physical and spiritual health as significant and were involved in treating a patient from both perspectives. It differs from other nursing specialties by virtue of its spiritual component, which allows nurses to see the patient as a whole person, comprising the spirit, the soul, and the body. The challenges of nurses at the parish were that they were operating largely in a non-medical setting, where they did not have the usual medical equipment at their disposal and no doctor nearby. Despite these challenges, however, parish nursing made a significant positive contribution to patient outcomes, as the nurses reported a greater level of patient recoveries and comfort, as well as a sustained stronger connection to the church during their illness. My conclusions after talking to them were that parish nursing is a highly effective approach, and I would recommend that other denominations other than Catholic make an effort to incorporate similar p

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