What does a Congregational Nurse (CN) do?
A CN …
- Is licensed to promote wellbeing or crisis resolution through referral.
- Helps members access needed community services.
- Facilitates access to home care service providers when needed.
- Listens and guides members through the process of accessing needed emotional & mental health provider services.
- Educates members about signs & symptoms that warrant prompt attention.
- Helps members communicate with their physicians more effectively, advocacy.
- Is spirit-centered, but focuses less on beliefs, and more on issues of functional wellbeing & resolvable barriers to wellbeing.
- Is a volunteer coordinator and seeks to aid the members in being effective ministers to one another.
Why would a Church Want a Congregational Nurse?
- Help members feel cared about and valued.
- Bring healing and reconciliation to member hurts and rifts.
- Help members find meaning and purpose (spiritual wellbeing).
- A CN speaks the language of both faith and health care providers.
- Aids the church in reclaiming its’ role in healing, its’ right to a voice and its’ presently needed partnership in health care.
- Spell pastors from the demands of chronic illness support needs.
- Aid in organized congregational responses to widespread needs within the congregation. Thus they build a sense of community.
- Create safe opportunities for sharing. Sharing is therapeutic.
- Help people to realize that congregational membership and faith are health strengthening.
- Reintegrates the faith factor into health care which is powerfully affirmed by research.
- Health care is more than medicine. Health care must be spirit-centered and whole person focused. Faith plays a significant role in whole person wellbeing.
How Many CN’s are there in Saskatoon?
Presently there are 8 CN’s, also known as Parish Nurses, in Saskatoon. They are with the Catholic, Lutheran, United and Anglican churches. Forest Grove Community Church is the first MB church in Saskatchewan to adopt a CN Ministry. There are several other Mennonite churches in Ontario who presently have a CN Ministry.