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Eileen’s
eyes sparkled as she told me that her
pastor had asked her to begin a parish
nurse ministry in their congregation.
“I really don’t know much about parish
nursing, but I think this is what I
want to do with the rest of my nursing
career,” she began. “Somehow I feel
that this is why I became a nurse.”
Eileen
read everything she could find about
parish nursing, interviewed parish nurses
in her community and signed up for a
basic preparation course. In the meantime,
she has set up a well-planned program
for her church.
What
is it about this burgeoning new specialty
that tugs at our hearts and fires our
imaginations?
The
church has a long history in health
care. It’s taken various forms over
the centuries, but interestingly, nursing
has always been the heart and center
of church-based health care. Other religions
have their shamans and witch
doctors, but Christianity is characterized
by nurture, care and servanthood. What
makes the difference?
Nursing
as a public role grew out of the life
and teachings of Jesus Christ. Nursing,
as a response of faith, calls us to
servanthood in the name of Christ. Jesus
said, “Whoever wishes to be great among
you must be your servant, and whoever
wishes to be first among you must be
your slave; just as the Son of Man came
not to be served but to serve, and to
give his life a ransom for many” (Mt
20:26-28).
He
elaborated further when he said, “‘For
I was hungry and you gave me food, I
was thirsty and you gave me something
to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed
me, I was naked and you gave me clothing,
I was sick and you took care of me .
. . . Truly I tell you, just as you
did it to one of the least of these
who are members of my family, you did
it to me’” (Mt 25:35-40).
Most
nurses (even many who are not Christians)
seem to feel, at the deepest level,
that we are responding to Jesus’ call
when we choose nursing as our life’s
work. Then we face the reality of profit-driven
health care, where increasingly fewer
RNs must care for higher numbers of
more complicated cases with shorter
hospital stays. Today’s nurses mourn
the loss of the personal patient contact
that makes our job rewarding. We worry
about what will become of patients when
they are discharged while still seriously
ill. Nurses take responsibility seriously,
so we try to cope, and then pay the
price in stress-related illnesses. However,
in the process, many nurses today also
lose the sense of calling that propelled
us into nursing in the first place.
Despite
all the rebellion against our old handmaiden
image and the concept of servanthood,
nurses know deep down inside that serving
is what nursing is all about. We don’t
really have a problem with serving,
but we do care about whom we
serve. We want to serve God and those
he put in our care. We don’t want to
serve profit-driven systems. In fact,
Jesus made it quite clear that “No one
can serve two masters; for a slave will
either hate the one and love the other,
or be devoted to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve God and
wealth” (Mt 6:24). Too many nurses today
find themselves unwillingly serving
mammon (wealth), and it grates on their
souls.
Parish
nursing gives us the opportunity to
function according to the way we initially
envisioned nursing. We care for people
over the long haul, providing continuity
in the context of a personal relationship.
We care for the whole person in the
context of the family and the faith
community. While monitoring physical
health, we attend to spiritual and emotional
needs as well. We work to bring those
in our care into shalom, a God-centered
wholeness that incorporates health,
wellness, welfare, peace, happiness,
rest, community and prosperity, not
merely physical cure. No one is standing
over us demanding increased productivity
or cost reductions. We have time to
spend with each person and family, knowing
that God has lavished his grace
upon them, so we can too (Eph 1:8).
No wonder nurses around the world are
drawn to parish nursing.
However,
even parish nursing is entrusted to
sinful human beings. We must walk carefully
and prayerfully in this newly restored
ministry of the church. As the parish
nursing movement begins to mature, we
must watch several troublesome trends.
First,
we have a tendency to become too comfortable.
After jumping out of the stress and
disillusionment of secular nursing,
working in the church feels like a welcome
relief. However, our concern must continue
to focus on the poor, the sick and the
disenfranchised of society—and most
of those people may be beyond the walls
of a suburban church.
Second,
we are tempted to seek the world’s approval.
While the American Nurses Association’s
approval of The Scope and Standards
of Parish Nursing Practice (1998)
gives professional status and accountability
to parish nursing, we must remember
that we are primarily accountable to
God and his church. If the movement
toward standardization, credentialing
and third-party reimbursement continues
to mount, we must watch carefully to
see that God’s standards are not violated,
or that we once again find ourselves
serving mammon.
Finally,
we must not lose sight of the vision.
The current shape of parish nursing
has been good for nurses and good for
the church; however, it is not the only
model of church-based health care. If
the goal of our vision is shalom,
we still have a long way to go. Our
calling is not only to comfort the sick,
but to bring the healing light of Christ’s
gospel to those who need the Great Physician
(Mt 9:12). The way we go about that
will change with the culture and the
needs of those we serve. We will probably
become more involved with providing
physical care. We will need more physical
assessment skills as well as theological
education and ministry skills. We may
end up changing systems or building
alternative systems to care for those
in need. The needs are great. We will
definitely need to move out of our comfort
zones.
Parish
nursing should fire our imagination,
for it comes from the heart of Jesus.
Let’s continue to listen carefully to
his voice as he leads us into the next
phase of restoring health care to its
rightful place in the church.—JAS
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