The role of the personal health counselor or advisor can address the needs of a congregation in a variety of ways. I visualize the parish nurse as a slab of moldable of clay in anticipation of the Potter to mold her into the design He has for service. Each congregation is so individual made up of so many different parts.
Developing a health needs survey is a useful mode to discover the wishes and needs of the congregation. Over a year ago I circulated a Congregational Health Needs Survey and was able to discern what the major needs/wants were of our church community. I can visually see what the needs are but until people discover that they have a need for something like weight management or nutritional counseling, they will not be receptive to the instruction at that time. I do try to provide snippets of information in the quarterly health newsletter about issues that I feel need to be concentrated on.
In meeting with the pastor and my experience with our church family, our church has a high needs population and many with mental health and financial issues. I have had a speaker come in and speak to the leadership about suicide prevention and intervention and I would like to have someone come in to speak about mental health issues. I think good communication with the pastor and leadership is a good way to stay in touch with what is needed.
Ensuring that you have a “presence” on Sunday morning and other church sponsored events is fundamental to staying “in the loop” so to speak, with others in the congregation. This can give you a chance to make a preliminary contact with someone and make a scheduled time to follow up on a need. You won’t find out what is going on in people’s lives if you only are at church on Sunday mornings particularly if you arrive 5 minutes before the Sunday service and leave immediately after it is over. I guess to be a parish nurse you have to be a people person and utilize those people skills that God gave you.
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