NCF’s vision for schools of nursing is to see students and faculty transformed, campuses renewed, and world changers developed. This same vision extends to practice settings: God transforms nurses and students, brings renewal, and develops nurses who will represent Jesus in the world of healthcare in the US and globally. Outcomes of this vision for nursing education and practice include positive changes in patient care, as well as the knowledge base of nursing and health care policies being influenced by Christian values such as compassion and justice.

Leadership
InterVarsity is governed by its Board of Trustees; the Director of NCF reports to InterVarsity’s Vice President of Strategic Ministries. The NCF National office is part of the National Service Center of IVCF.

The Directors of the various NCF ministries¹ form the Staff Leadership Team with the NCF Director, serving the NCF constituency. The National Council Exec is composed of the Staff Leadership Team and nine volunteer members who bring expertise to NCF from their different nursing backgrounds. NCF is divided into 14 geographical Regions; Regional Leadership Councils at various stages of leadership development exist in some regions. NCF has an annual meeting of the National Council, composed of representatives from the regions, field staff and the National Council Exec.

Local leadership for NCF happens through both salaried field staff and volunteer staff members. Nurses also provide leadership through by serving as Council members, faculty advisors for student groups, leaders of RN groups, and committee members for conferences and retreats. There are 250+ total in NCF leadership.

Brief History
The Christian nursing movement that became NCF began during the late 1930’s when nursing was expanding as a profession. Nurses in Chicago started meeting together monthly for Bible study, to reach the nursing community with the Gospel and to help nurses face personal and professional issues. They called themselves the Christian Nurses Fellowship, with Alvera Anderson as President. During World War II nurses were moved throughout the US as needed through the Cadet Nurses Program. Christian nurses began to form groups in other parts of the USA and looked to the Chicago CNF for leadership. As students affiliated with Chicago hospitals for their nursing specialty areas and then returned to their home schools, they carried a vision for starting CNF groups.

In 1948 CNF became a national ministry of IVCF, with the name changing to Nurses Christian Fellowship in 1952. At that time there were very few NCF staff, beginning a pattern of Christian nurses effectively mentoring students and reaching out to colleagues. Throughout its history, volunteers have greatly impacted the ministry of NCF. In the 1960s as nursing education programs moved from the hospitals into the universities, NCF staff began to work closely with IVCF field staff in the universities to provide Christian nursing resources for students.

In the last forty years, NCF has served nursing education and the healthcare community in the numerous resources and curriculum it has produced covering the ministry of caring in Jesus’ name through nursing. These have covered printed and web resources, conferences and retreats as well as professional continuing education events and personal mentoring. www.ncf-jcn.org/info/more/history.html

Description of NCF:
NCF is strategic in its ministry to undergraduate nurses in the universities, currently 1209 in 101 schools. There is also a ministry to professional nurses and nursing faculty, 915 in 75 groups. These groups are both geographic as well as virtual groups (e.g. Faculty/Grad Student Listserv, Advanced Practice Web Group and NCF Nurse Google Group).

Since 1998 the NCF website is an increasingly vital part of NCF ministry. Over 7000 people/month visit the expanding NCF website that includes sections serving students, faculty, faculty advisors, nurses in practice as well as links to publications, resources to begin groups, and topics of interest such as missions and spiritual care.

Most NCF work is done by volunteer leaders and/or faculty advisors. Nineteen full and part time staff serve in various support roles. Many nursing students participate in InterVarsity chapters for spiritual growth and development. NCF provides resources through media (print, multimedia and website), conferences, and telecommunication (email and phone). www.ncf-jcn.org/info/more/statistics.html

NCF has as a part of its ministry a professional organization which has 1000 dues-paying members. The goal of membership is to enable nurses and students to be a Christian voice in nursing. This includes representation in the Nursing Organizations Alliance where NCF voices Christian perspectives on issues in nursing and health care among leaders of other organizations. Involvement in NCF is not limited to membership in the professional organization; all nurses are welcome at NCF activities.

Partnering with others of like mind is a high value for NCF. It has been a member of NCF International since 1970. There is a ministry to Christian nursing schools through the NCF website (40 schools in 2005). Other affiliations and partnerships continue to challenge and enrich the ministry of NCF. www.ncf-jcn.org/info/more/partners.html Alumni of NCF are served through conferences, mentoring, and personal messages.

NCF is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the WNA Continuing Education Approval Program Committee, an accredited approver of continuing nursing education by the ANCC Commission on Accreditation. NCF sponsors several dozen CNE events a year, serving over a thousand nurses and students. Topics are presented from a Christian perspective on ethics, caring, grief, missions and parish nurse preparation. CNE through JCN Independent Study served 120 nurses. NCF staff also participate in conferences organized by other organizations, presenting papers founded on a Christian perspective of healthcare issues.

NCF is making an impact through its publications. The Journal of Christian Nursing is an awardwinning quarterly,² reaching a readership of 5,000. It is a key tool for NCF to influence the nursing profession and an aid to nurses grappling with professional and personal issues from a biblical Christian perspective.

NCF produces other aids through the NCF Press, IVPress,³ links on the NCF website cover multimedia resources as well as abstracts of dissertations, theses, and scholarly papers. The NCF Intercessor, a prayer guide to the movement comes out quarterly.

Funding for NCF is through the gifts and generosity of supporters. The NCF Director is responsible for the NCF income and expense budgets. NCF field staff are responsible for their financial support.

¹ Currently: Publications, Faculty/Graduate Student Ministry, Continuing Education, Missions

² The Journal of Christian Nursing has won awards from the Evangelical Press Association.

³ NCF Press, publishing Bible Study guides and books on Christian nursing topics
- IV Press, publishing books on health care subjects
- Printed resources are available through the IVCF store.