Parish Nurse

What is a parish nurse?
A parish nurse is a registered nurse who facilitates whole person care within a congregation and in so doing reclaims the healing ministry of the faith community. The majority of parish nurses are BSN-prepared and have been in nursing for more than ten years. Parish nurses are practicing in congregations of every denomination in rural, urban and suburban settings

Marquette University has a strong tradition of offering the Basic Parish Nurse Preparation Institute. The curriculum is based on the standardized core curricula developed through the International Parish Nurse Resource Center. It prepares a registered nurse to begin a parish nurse ministry in any faith community setting. Continuing education courses for parish nurses are also available and are designed to strengthen their skills in integrating faith and health and in other related areas.

"Spiritual integration is necessarily concomitant with all healing and well-being and no amount of body healing will work if the spirit is not healed also."
Pamela Mattson, University of Arizona, Wholistic Health in Perspective

Who is a parish nurse?

• Current estimates of practicing parish nurses in the United States place the number at over 6,000.
• The majority of parish nurses are BSN-prepared and have been in nursing for more than 10 years. Many parish nurses have masters or doctorates and have degrees in related fields such as psychology, teaching and theology.

Where are parish nurses practicing?

• Parish nurses are practicing in congregations or faith communities of every denomination in rural, urban and suburban settings.
• Parish nurses are found in all areas of the United States, also in Korea and Australia.
• Over 1500 parish nurses from across the United States have been prepared by the Marquette program.

The Parish Nurse Preparation Institute
The Institute prepares registered nurses to deliver wholistic, primary health care in churches and synagogues. It is offered as an interfaith model, recognizing and incorporating a diversity of belief systems. Prime candidates are registered nurses, with several years of experience in any area of nursing.

The Institute is a two-phase program. Phase one is an eight-day educational offering conducted on the campus of Marquette University and other sites around the U.S. Participants study parish nurse models and a variety of topics essential to the practice. The Institute is offered several times a year. Phase two is a nine-month optional fellowship offering five seminars and ongoing support services.

Objectives
The Parish Nurse Institute is designed to enable participants to:

• Gain theoretical and practical knowledge necessary to begin a parish nurse practice.
• Join a support system of parish nurses for professional development.
• Examine and nurture their personal spiritual development.

"More than 60 percent of Americans have a formal membership in a church or synagogue and more than 40 percent attend some sort of worship service at least weekly. It is these people the parish nurse ... is designed to help."
Judith Ryan, former executive director, American Nurses Association

Faculty
Pat Olin, MS, RN

Phone: 414 550-8519

patriceolin@sbcglobal.net

For More Information
Phone: (414) 288-3802

parishnursing@mu.edu

General Information
Phase I Content Includes:

• Introduction to parish nursing
• Teaching and counseling roles
• Management of practice
• Spiritual caregiving
• Ethics and values
• Theology and healing
• Wellness and prevention
• Community resources
• Legal issues
• Assessment skills
• Working with volunteers

Worship services on Sunday, daily meal time devotions by participants, a healing service midweek.

On-site observational experience with practicing parish purses.

Dedication service in the Marquette chapel and closing ceremony with brunch on the final Saturday of the program.

Fifty-four Continuing Education credits are awarded. The Institute may also be taken for 3 undergraduate or 3 graduate credits.

Most evenings, participants are free to use Marquette's Raynor Memorial Libraries, read assigned materials, socialize and enjoy city of Milwaukee sites and recreation.