A Christian call to nursing.

Nowadays nursing is perceived as a professional form of health care which aims to be holistic and patient-focused. Nurse training is both academic and practical, and models abound, developed by nursing educators, to explain the theory underlying nursing actions and philosophy. Reflection on our history highlights key steps in nursing's development bur is often apologetic about the emphasis, in former years, on nursing as a vocation. Nurses with a faith commitment are accepted, especially in fields such as palliative care or oncology, bur they are discouraged from sharing their faith, particularly when this is perceived as an intrusion or simply inappropriate.

This year, the New Zealand Faith Community Nurses' Association (NZFCNA) celebrated the 10th anniversary of the introduction of parish nursing within the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and the Pacific. However, since the pilot launched at Nelson Cathedral in July 1998, the concept has spread throughout the churches and nationwide.

NZFCNA was inaugurated in 2003 to provide educational opportunities, networking, development of standards and the promotion of this form of nursing practice. Church leadership of the Catholic, Anglican, Methodist and Salvation Army churches recognise and affirm our nursing practice as a valid form of Christian ministry. Many current FCNs or parish nurses also belong to the Baptist and Pentecostal faith communities. Each nurse in this ecumenical mix (there are now at least 30 parish nurses around the country) shares the vision of nursing as a call from God to demonstrate Jesus' healing ministry through professional, practical, primary health care nursing. They are reclaiming the history of nursing based on caring for the body, mind and spirit. Members of NZFCNA believe achieving spiritual health is as essential for overall health, as physical or mental health. Spiritual care of self and others forms part of FCNs' competencies for nursing practice.

Conference celebrates ten years

Our Labour Weekend conference at Living Springs, Christchurch, in October, was attended by around 30 nurses. Keynote speakers included founding member of the Canadian Association for Parish Nursing Ministry, Lynda Miller. She is adjunct professor at two nursing schools which deliver on-line courses in faith community nursing. Nursing co-ordinator of the postgraduate programme at Unitec's School of Health and Community Studies in Auckland, Elizabeth Niven, shared her expertise, both as a NZFCNA board member and in Christian ethics. Niven is co-author of Ethics: A Guide for New Zealand Nurses, published in 2003.

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However, the programme focused as much on the role of prayer in nursing, as on the practicalities of setting up this work in the community. Nurses from Christchurch and Gore shared how they have developed foot clinics, targetted particularly at the elderly, with church or primary health organisation funding. These clinics address isolation and depression, as well as foot hygiene. At one foot clinic, the pastor takes the opportunity to minister to attendees by being involved in the initial foot bathing. This low-key interaction is often the opening for sharing deeper concerns, and he is in the perfect place to listen. Members reflected on the growth of the concept, planted in the mind of a Nelson Polytechnic nursing graduate, to what is now a national organisation that is visited by leaders of the parish nurse movements in Australia, the United Kingdom, America and Canada. Some parish nurses work in a voluntary capacity, but an increasing number are being funded. This is leading to greater recognition of the work.

Pacific Island nursing ministries

Co-ordinatator of the Healthy Village Action Zones project, Hilda Faasalele, represented Pacific Island parish community nurses working with the Auckland District Health Board (DHB). This community-led development programme operates through a number of Pacific Island churches in Auckland. General Manager of Pacific Health at the DHB, Aseta Redican, pioneered the parish nurse concept in 2002 and, like a mat being woven with strands from different points, the ministries are connecting and becoming stronger. Links are now forged internationally to share resources, ideas and to support one another in prayer.

The distance-learning basic introductory course for FCNs was launched at the conference and will be trialled by new FCNs working in different settings: urban and rural; Anglican and Baptist; salaried and voluntary. The course, based on the Australian course but modified for the New Zealand context, includes 12 modules and is available on CD. It is a very practical programme and includes tips on how to get started as a parish nurse.

We acknowledge with gratitude the input, encouragement and expertise of many over the last ten years, including Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand for publishing articles promoting the vision and development of faith community nursing. We also thank former NZNO professional nursing adviser (PNA) Faith Roberts and current PNA Margaret Cain who have provided invaluable support with the development of our competencies and ensuring standards were achieved to meet Nursing Council requirements. My thanks also to the then Dean of Nursing at Nelson Polytechnic, Carolyn Reed, who encouraged me to follow my call and provided a venue for the first international visit from the then chair of the Australian FCNA, nursing professor Merilyn Annells.

Over the next ten years, the goal is to promote the vision of faith community nursing more widely and to build on the foundations forged at government level and with nursing organisations. It was appropriate that the recent conference began with worship at the church of St Michael and All Angels--the parish where Nurse Maude established district nursing in New Zealand based on the Liverpool model. District nursing in the United Kingdom, as started in Liverpool, celebrates its 150th anniversary next year. Politicians and civic leaders joined NZFCNA to celebrate its 10th anniversary but they also heard of our historical links dating back to the call of Christian nurses in other generations to serve the community in their different ways. Parish nurses and FCNs working in New Zealand are current strands in the weaving of an amazing creation of Christian service and nursing.

Our next annual conference is planned for August 2009 in Hamilton. If you wish to know more about our vision, go to www.faithnursing.co.nz or email [e-mail].

Report by former chair of NZFCNA, now national adviser to the board, Elaine Tyrrell