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Parish Nursing
Parish Nursing 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.
Parish nursing 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
Parish Nursing does not involve "hands on" medical
care such as giving medications, dressing changes, or drawing blood,
etc.
Functions of
the Parish 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
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