Jeanne Nist This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Cover story: Parish nursing: Care for the sick, healing for the community

   www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/arc - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/16/2002   Last Visited: 8/16/2002

   "As God's people, we have a responsibility of stewardship of his gift of life," said Jeanne Nist, a registered nurse and manager of the Holy Cross Parish Nursing Program in Silver Spring, Md. "It's very empowering for people to understand what they can do ... to be a part of health and wellness, and not just seek crisis intervention."
   
   The connection between faith and health is not a new one. Catholic orders of nuns founded to care for the sick and the evangelical deaconess movement of the 19th century were forebears of parish nurses. More important, the work of health ministry can be traced to Christianity's roots.
   
   Paying attention, as Jesus did
   
   ...
   With scope and standards acknowledged by the American Nurses Association, Nist noted, it is important to impress on people who want to identify themselves as parish nurses that "this is a specialty practice that takes specialized education." Such education is available through the International Parish Nurse Resource Center and also increasingly at nursing schools.
   
   Under the Holy Cross Parish Nurse Program, which provides mentoring and resources to parish nurses in more than 35 faith communities, most nurses begin as volunteers, said Nist. "As congregations become aware of the value of a staff position parish nurse, they tend to pursue funding one," she said.
   
   With the help of a health system
   
   Programs such as those at Holy Cross in Silver Spring, Deaconess Parish Nurse Ministries in St. Louis, and St. Joseph's Center for Health Ministries in Atlanta, represent a common model in which a church's parish nurse is placed with the assistance of an umbrella organization, usually a health system or hospital that may also provide benefits while the parish pays the nurse's salary. The organization supplies resources and educational programs for the nurse.
   
   For the organization, it is an opportunity for community outreach, said Nist. "The advantage to the institution is it is an entrée into understanding the needs of the community and how to meet those needs," she said.

2. 2. www.bwconf.org

   www.bwconf.org/conferencenews/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/5/2001   Last Visited: 12/29/2001

   Recent studies have shown that a relationship with God and spirituality can actually improve one's health and wellbeing, said Jeanne Nist, a registered nurse and a coordinator for the Parish Nurse Program at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring. The medical community is working with faith communities, helping them reclaim their "role in the ministry of healing," Nist said.