WILLMAR -- Parish nursing programs can become more self-sustaining if they tap into support from local congregations. Partnerships with colleges, local hospitals, clinics, public health and other agencies can help broaden the ability of parish nurses to serve their church community.
There's also a need to develop regional leadership for parish nurse programs and find creative ways to pay for the programs.
These were among the issues identified at a stakeholder meeting Wednesday in Willmar, sponsored by the Southwest Minnesota Foundation.
The meeting is the first of four being held around southwestern Minnesota to seek input about how to strengthen the region's parish nurse services.
"It's so we can gather information from people from all walks of life," said Judy Larson, program director with the Southwest Minnesota Foundation. "We'll try to find the right resources to accomplish what we see are important needs."
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The foundation received a one-year "New Times, New Tools" grant this year from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation to develop strategies to support parish nursing in southwestern Minnesota.
A task force has been working since March to come up with priorities.
"What it has allowed us to do is be very deliberate in bringing together leaders and stakeholders so we can look at all the opportunities," Larson said.
The goal is to come up with ways of sustaining the 50 parish nursing programs that are active in southwestern Minnesota -- and possibly introduce parish nursing to more congregations, she said. "That means we have to find a way to stretch our resources and work together in partnership."
Parish nursing harkens back to the historic role of churches in caring for their flock in body as well as soul. Since the late 1980s, there has been a resurgence of interest in parish nursing as a way of integrating health and spirituality and plugging some of the gaps in health care services.
"This is giving the churches a chance again to do what they do really well, and that is taking care of people. ... It's aligned with the promotion of health and wellness and looking after the whole person," Larson said.
Carol Gustafson is the parish nurse at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Willmar.
She pays home visits to congregation members who are ailing or who've recently been in the hospital. She does blood pressure screenings. She helps offer resources to people who have been bereaved.
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The emphasis is on the congregation's elderly members, but the parish nurse reaches out to other unmet needs as well.
"What we do is very, very broad," Gustafson said. "Over time I've gotten to know just about everyone in our congregation. I see new moms. I see elderly folks who need to transition into nursing homes."
For many parishioners, it has been a way of ministering to their health while keeping them integrated in church life, she said.
It was seen as something Redeemer Lutheran Church needed, she said. "They really have appreciated having the opportunity to have a parish nurse here. ... It's just been a very, very rewarding experience."
The 50 parish nurse programs in the Southwest Minnesota Foundation's 18-county area are mostly congregation-based. A handful, such as Appleton's parish nurse program, are hospital-based.
Usually they're run by volunteer advisory committees. Often the parish nurse is a paid employee; in some congregations, the parish nurse is a volunteer or parish nurse duties are shared by more than one nurse.
The 16 people who participated in Wednesday's meeting in Willmar spent more than an hour hearing about parish nursing and discussing issues such as local resources for parish nurse training and support, emerging needs that parish nurses might address, and how communities can support a regional parish nurse initiative.
Larson said the task force has uncovered several important areas to address. One is a need for more collaboration with existing resources such as colleges and hospitals; another is the need for central coordination.
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The task force also hopes to help define best practices in parish nursing and raise the overall regional awareness of what parish nursing is and what it can do for church members.
"We're always looking for those innovative ways to do things even better," Larson said.
