Faith Community Nursing Primary Health Ministry is an emerging practice for the professional nurse integrating faith and health while focusing on health promotion, health maintenance, and illness prevention. It holds the spiritual dimension to be central to the practice but also encompasses the physical, psychological, and social dimensions of nursing. Faith Community Nursing Primary Health Ministry is practiced within a faith community and is based on the assessed needs of that group of people.

Assessments often lead to, but are not limited to the following programs:

• Blood pressure screenings
• Cholesterol screenings
• Health fairs
• Weight-loss programs
• Seminars on health topics
• Bereavement and grief support groups
• Wellness information in weekly bulletins
• Home visitation
• One-on-one health counseling

Faith Community Nursing Primary Health Ministry does not involve "hands on" medical care such as giving medications, dressing changes, or drawing blood, etc.

Functions of the Faith Community Nurse

• Integrator of faith and health
• Health educator
• Personal health counselor
• Referral agent
• Coordinator of volunteers
• Developer of support groups
• Health advocate

Source: Parish Nursing, edited by P.A. Solari-Twadell and M. A. McDermott, Sage Publications, Twin Oaks, CA 1999