Through partnership with other community health resources, parish nursing fosters new and creative responses to health concerns. Parish nursing services are designed to build on and strengthen capacities of individuals, families, and congregations to understand and care for one another in light of their relationship to God, faith traditions, themselves, and the broader society. The practice holds that all persons are sacred and must be treated with respect and dignity. In response to this belief, the parish nurse assists and empowers individuals to become more active partners in the management of their personal health resources. The parish nurse understands health to be a dynamic process which embodies the spiritual, psychological, physical and social dimensions of the person.
Spiritual health is central to well-being and influences a person's entire being.
Therefore, a sense of well-being and illness may occur simultaneously. Healing may exist in the absence of cure. Parish Nurses must take responsibility for their own professional development. However, the structure and content of lifelong professional development opportunities should meet both their immediate and future professional goals. Guideline Development For Parish Nurse Education Programs.