Jesus Our Living Water Area Faith Community: Parish Nurse Ministry
Meet Your Parish Nurses!!
Cate Giroux’s office is located at Our Lady of the Lakes Parish. When she is not working for the Area Faith Community as one of your Parish Nurses, she is working at Rice Memorial Hospital on the Women’s and Children’s Care Unit.
Kelly Sing’s office is located at the Church of St. Mary. She also works at Rice Memorial Hospital, when she is not working as one of your Parish Nurses, on the Adult Health Care Unit.
What is Parish Nursing?
Parish nursing is an idea born out of the understanding of the healing ministry of the church and the need to return to health care that focuses on the whole person to emphasize wellness, disease prevention, and health promotion. A parish nurse is a registered nurse with additional training who serves members of the congregation and often people in the community as well.
How Can Your Parish Nurse Help You?
The role of a parish nurse is not primarily to deal with sickness but more significantly to be a driving force in striving towards health and wellness in all areas of your life. Just remember H.E.A.L.T.H.:
- H - Health Counselor - discuss health issues with individuals; visits people in their homes, hospitals, and other facilities as needed; reinforces and clarifies information individuals receive from their physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and therapists.
- E - Educator - Provides classes, workshops, and educational materials to foster understanding about the relationships of one’s lifestyle, attitudes, and faith with their state of health and well-being to community resources and services.
- A - Advocate - By attending health professional appointments (doctor, physical therapist, etc.) with you in order to make sure your questions are answered and you understand the information being shared with you about your health.
- L - Leader and Facilitator of Volunteers - Recruits and coordinates within the congregation to assist in the caring ministry of parish nursing.
- T - Theological Reflection and Prayer - Encourage people to use their faith in order to Integrate the physical, emotional, and spiritual elements of life. Clarify the close relationship between faith and health.
- H - Helper/Liaison to community resources - Helps people connect to programs and agencies throughout the community such as hospital and county sponsored programs, support groups, home care and hospice services; etc.