WHAT IS FAITH COMMUNITY NURSING?

Faith community nursing brings together a recent trend to focus on holistic health and draws the Church back to its roots of caring for the healing of its members. Health is no longer the sole responsibility of the physician or psychiatrist. Each independent individual should be empowered to care for their own well-being supported by a caring family/whanau/community. Healing is not physical health, mental stability or lack of disability. Health is a wholeness of body, mind and spirit in relationship with God and His creation. The Church and its members have the potential to participate in the establishment and nurturing of this healing process.

The goal of faith community nursing/parish nursing is to promote, protect, and restore the health of those persons served by the church and enable and empower others for healthy living.

Faith community nursing is a form of ministry provided by a registered nurse within a community of faith. The faith community or fellowship/congregation of Christians support their faith community nurse (FCN) to provide care within that fellowship as well as providing a means of outreach to their local community. The role of the faith community will be discussed further in future modules.

Parish Nursing developed in the United States based upon the work of Granger Westberg, a hospital chaplain. He saw the role which nurses had in the spiritual care of their clients as well as the health promotional role they played in their faith communities. Individual churches explore how this form of nursing/ministry can work for them. In Australia and other countries the term Faith Community Nursing has been used since not all Christian denominations work within the structure of parishes familiar to say the Catholic or Anglican Church. Other nurses choose to be called Pastoral nurses.

FAITH COMMUNITY NURSING MISSION

The FCN responds to Christ's redeeming love by offering her/his personal gifts and nursing knowledge/skills in service for all. This activity occurs in the context of the faith community as part of the Christian church's response to Jesus' message:
"...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
Matthew 25: 40

The FCN cares for the body, mind and spirit, nurturing the growth towards wholeness in and through Christ. The FCN ministry seeks to assist the Christian church in caring for God's people to facilitate their journey towards forgiveness, healing, hope, peace and wholeness.
"…Faith by itself, if not accompanied by action is dead." James 2:17

FAITH COMMUNITY NURSING PHILOSOPHY

Faith Community Nursing draws its foundations from Scripture. The FCN recognises that:

• Each person is God's creation and made in the image of God, a celebration of God's love, made holy through Jesus Christ and set aside for His purpose.
  "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
  male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27
• Our body is a gift from God and the temple of the Holy Spirit. The way in which we respect, care and use our body is our gift of love and praise to God.
  "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
• The human spirit integrates each person's mental and physical dimensions. Wholeness is the integration of these dimensions through Jesus Christ to restore harmony with God and all of creation.
  "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:23
• The FCN health ministry is modelled on the example of Jesus, who came to preach, teach and heal.
  "He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick." Luke 9:2
• The Christian Church has been called to follow Jesus' lead and go out to love and serve each other, and the people of the world.
  "For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you."
  John 13:15
  

THE VALUE OF FAITH COMMUNITY NURSING IN NEW ZEALAND

The Faith Community Nurse, as a representative of a particular Christian faith community, provides a holistic approach to care and nurture of the individual, the congregation and the community, throughout all stages of life regardless of ability, colour, creed or socioeconomic status. The FCN is able to provide support and education to empower the congregation to adopt healthy lifestyle patterns and enhance spiritual growth.

The fragmentation of the extended family, and increasingly the immediate family is creating a gap in social care, with many elderly, young families, single parents and the frail in our community left unsupported and alone. The faith community is enriched by the expertise nurses have in caring for the disadvantaged and marginalised people.

Our over-burdened health care system has a resource strain, coupled with a shrinking health care dollar and increases in use, which increases the tensions on our overloaded health care system. More than ever the focus of treatment and cure needs to move to illness prevention and health promotion.

The FCN ministry focuses on nurturing healthy relationships between the individual, other people, the created environment and God, thus promoting health and wellbeing. Individuals with existing disease are empowered to take responsibility for their health and manage their condition using the FCN as a resource person and advocate. Care occurs in the context of a supportive faith community.

The FCN does not work in isolation. Rather, she/he is part of a health ministry team who combine gifts, talents, professional knowledge and skills to provide the vocation call to compassionate care. In this way it is an integral part of the health and healing ministry of our Christian faith communities.

The FCN ministry also focuses on community health. Churches are the only places in our society where people of all ages congregate regularly and can forge long-term relationships across the life span. Faith communities allow people to be connected, to serve, and to be served. They provide a common history and destiny for life's journey. They enable us to accompany one another along the journey, providing companions, energy and resources to facilitate our travels. The faith community is a safe place for us to grow and become; to bless and to be blessed, to pray and bring each other before God's throne of grace. A loving faith community is a healing place and these relationships create the basis for true community health, which the FCN seeks to promote and nurture.

FUNCTIONS OF A FAITH COMMUNUNITY NURSE

An FCN works as a team member of the faith community to serve the congregation and members of the wider community. An FCN, while active in one-on-one work with clients, also has a significant role in empowering others to exercise their God-given gifts. An FCN liaises with and supports clients in their dealings with other local health professionals.

The Goal of Faith Community Nursing

The goal of all health ministry is transformation of individuals and communities regarding conceptualisation of health and healing, empowering people to act in ways that enable them to transition successfully through life's changing conditions to maintain and improve their well-being. This transformative process is a dynamic life-long journey that enables us to grow closer to Jesus Christ thus locating our wholeness in and through God. Thus all functions of the FCN should nurture spiritual growth and clarify the relationships between faith and health.

The cultural and religious group within which the FCN is working will determine the mission of each FCN. The aim of all education, counselling, advocacy, resource and referral, and care management is to help people to integrate the spiritual aspect of life in their current circumstance so they may find health, healing and well-being of body, mind and spirit. All health care is aimed at facilitating the physical, mental, social and spiritual integrity of people and communities as they experience life's transitions.

The roles identified as those of a Faith Community Nurse are listed below. Some of these roles will be more important in a particular faith community than others and each faith community nurse will bring their own individual skills to the ministry. It is also important to consider what services are already available within the region as there may be no need to duplicate them