Promoting quality education for the Parish nurse and Parish nurse coordinator.

A nurse working in the context of the church is not a new concept. What is new at this time is the profile of such a role. Parish nursing is a health promotion, disease prevention role that has spiritual care as its hallmark. The functions of the role are health educator, health counselor, referral source, liaison with congregational and community resources, facilitator and teacher of volunteers, and interpreter of the close relationship between faith and health (Djupe, Olson, & Ryan, 1994). The breadth of parish nursing has grown considerably since 1984: from six nurses working in the northwest suburban areas of Chicago, in partnership with six local churches representing Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Methodist traditions, to nurses working within all mainline denominations in 48 states, Canada, Australia, and Korea in 1997. This expansion has led to some growing pains for the profession. The need to set standards for the preparation and practice of parish nurses and their supervisors has become apparent.