The Evolving Role of Nursing
Change text size
Parish Nursing
Parish Nursing was started in 1981 by Granger Westberg, a chaplain at Lutheran General Hospital in Chicago. He believed that nurses had a unique perspective that focused on the whole person. Based on this finding, he proposed that placing a registered nurse in a church could help churches reclaim their "healing" ministry. In the 26 years since the birth of this ministry, Parish Nursing (Faith Community Nursing) has now expanded around the world and beyond its Christian roots.
Today, there is a defined scope and standard for faith community nurses authored by the American Nurses Association and the Health Ministry Association. In the future, nurses may even be able to receive certification in Parish Nursing.
MeritCare has supported Parish Nursing in a variety of ways since the early 1990s, but in 1999 based on feedback from area faith communities, MeritCare formed an affiliation to intentionally and consistently support the growth of this ministry throughout our region. Today, MeritCare supports over 36 faith communities and two shelters.
Parish Nurses provide health education, personal health counseling, referrals, advocacy, volunteer coordination and support groups. They provide whole-person health ministry in a supportive environment – often in the parishioners' homes. They work with the parishioners to empower them to accomplish their own personal health goals while incorporating the theology of the individual faith community.
As we continue to see health care costs and needs increase, it is important to realize that health care systems cannot solve or address these issues alone. Community partners like the faith communities are key to addressing community needs and Parish Nursing is a very effective way to accomplish this.