|
|
 |
University of Indianapolis (Indianapolis,
IN)
Parish
Nursing
Summary
University of Indianapolis’ School of Nursing initiated the Parish
Nursing: Primary Health Ministry course in 1997 to foster partnerships,
build community capacity, and provide healthcare assessment within communities
throughout Indiana. The University formed multifaceted partnerships with
local hospitals and churches as well as church conferences, state parish
nurse coordinators, county agencies, and healthcare alliances. In addition,
the parish nurse program forged interdisciplinary academic collaborations
with the University’s Ecumenical and Interfaith Program and the
Center for Aging and Community.
The Practice
Partnerships are essential to the effectiveness of this Parish Nursing
course. From its inception, the faculty developing this course established
partnerships with local hospitals and church conferences to sponsor prospective
parish nurses to enroll in and complete the course. These parish nurses
then serve communities across Indiana by integrating faith and health
with assessment and health promotion programming resources. Through numerous
community presentations, these faculty leaders also established networks
among state parish nurse coordinators, county agencies such as the Council
on Aging as well as state organizations, namely the Indiana Alliance for
Health Promotion and the South Indiana Conference of the United Methodist
Church (SICUMC) Health and Welfare Committee. These networks of partners
provide direction and resources integrating faith and health through community
programs to address local and state needs. Sponsoring hospitals and the
SICUMC established the role of parish nurse coordinator to guide the education
and community programming of local parish nurses. Through these collaborative
partnerships, the University was instrumental in forming an Indiana Parish
Nurse Coordinators Networking Group, which is developing the Indiana Center
for Parish Nursing to provide additional statewide community infrastructure
to parish nurses.
The partnerships established between the parish nurse program and sponsoring
healthcare agencies, church conferences, and local congregations address
gaps in healthcare assessment, education, and service delivery thus building
community capacity to meet this critical need. As nurses progress through
the course they establish a health ministry team, assess the needs of
their congregation and develop a health promotion plan. Assessment of
the needs of each congregation and their surrounding community is completed
by doing a windshield survey, interviewing key stakeholders and through
written surveys. Parish nurses walk and drive a one-to-five mile distance
around their church. They assess the neighborhoods assets and needs. They
look for potential program partners (e.g. other churches, area hospitals,
schools, libraries, and businesses) and for availability of services such
as public transportation, adequate recreational areas, grocery stores
as well as safety issues. They also survey their individual church members
to determine assets of volunteer resources, multigenerational/multicultural
members, handicap accessibility, etc. Parish nurses also use data collected
on local and state websites for health information along with the National
Healthy People 2010 Objectives. With this data, parish nurses work with
community partners to sponsor health promotion programming for their
churches and neighborhoods as well as organize local citizens to address
health and safety issues within their communities.
The University of Indianapolis Parish Nursing course places emphasis
on theology and health and thus embodies an interdisciplinary focus. Faculty
from the School of Nursing, Department of Philosophy and Religion, the
University Ecumenical and Interfaith program, as well as community leaders
who are parish nurses, counselors, and lawyers teach in this course. This
interdisciplinary nature spills over to cooperative ventures with other
campus departments. The Parish Nursing Program collaborates with the Crossings
Project of the University Ecumenical and Interfaith program and receives
funding from this project’s Lilly grant for the financial sponsorships
of parish nursing students, an update course for students who already
completed the initial course, and mentoring workshops for undergraduate
nursing students to create parish based health promotion programs and
to explore a vocation of parish nursing. In addition, the parish nursing
program collaborates with the University’s Center for Aging and
Community in a Caregiver Project that targets inner city Spanish-speaking
community members.
Effectiveness
Two hundred forty-four nurses from across the state have completed the
University of Indianapolis Parish Nursing course and provide service to
a variety of denominations, parishes, and communities. Each year, these
parish nurses participate in state-wide health promotion programs bringing
resources and education on topics such as “Mammograms for Moms,”
obesity, and “Aging Well” to their local congregations and
communities.
There is a lack of documentation to demonstrate the effectiveness of
parish nursing practice. A documentation system is being created by the
Indiana parish nurse coordinators on the web for this purpose. The expected
outcomes include a monthly record detailing the congregation (denomination),
number of parish nursing hours completed through home visits, phone, mail/e-mail
contact, hospital, and church contact visits, the number of referrals
to the pastor, physician, social services, support groups, counseling,
as well as screenings for blood pressure and health fair screenings through
hospitals. Health teaching/promotion presentations and written communications
are tracked as they relate to the Healthy People 2010 National Objectives.
Coordinators can retrieve their parish nursing group data as well as state
wide data.
Resources
For information about the University of Indianapolis Parish Nursing course,
please visit www.uindy.edu
(click on academics and scroll to the School of Nursing, then scroll to
parish nursing). Information about the partnerships or any specifics about
the course can be obtained from Cheryl Larson, Parish Nurse Coordinator
(clarson@uindy.edu) or the Indiana
Center for Parish Nursing (visit www.mgh.net,
then click on parish nursing; click on Indiana Parish Nurse; click on
Parish Nurse Network). This site will eventually include the documentation
assessment described above.
Indiana Parish Nurses
(click on Indiana Parish Nursing)
International Parish
Nursing Resource Center
Health Ministries Association
Text resource: Solari-Twadell, P. and McDermott, MA (1999) Parish
Nursing Promoting Whole Person Health Within Faith Communities, Sage
Publications, Thousand Oaks.
Contact Information
Cheryl Larson
Assistant Professor
Parish Nurse Coordinator
University of Indianapolis
1400 E. Hanna Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46227
Phone: (317) 788-3503
Fax: (317) 788-3542
clarson@uindy.edu
|
|
