Parish Nursing

Health Ministry: A Circle of Care for your Congregation

Please note: All Parish Nursing offerings are ONLINE for the duration of 2024-2025.

What is a Parish Nurse? 

A parish nurse is a registered nurse with specialized education who is called to ministry and affirmed by a faith community to promote health, healing, and wholeness among its members. Recognizing the interconnectedness of body, mind, and spirit, parish nurses promote wellness through health education, advocacy, spiritual support, and linking the needs of those they serve to resources in the greater community, health care system, and their community of faith. 

Parish nurse ministry is designed to involve people of all ages, families, and congregations as active partners in their personal health and wellness.

Our Formation Program

This program is designed to introduce fundamental concepts of the practice of parish nursing, which has its basis in the Christian faith and seeks health promotion with a preventative focus. It’s suitable for any registered nurse interested in integrating spirituality, health, and wholeness into their nursing practice. This program meets the criteria of the Canadian Association for Parish Nursing Ministry (CAPNM) Standards of Practice and Core Competencies.

Main Objectives

• Introduce participants to the foundations and practical knowledge necessary to begin a parish nursing ministry
• Gain biblical, theological, and ethical perspectives on health care issues
• Recognize the parish nurses’ role in assisting clients to achieve wellness while modelling self-care
• Acquire understanding in pastoral and spiritual care
• Develop a support system among other spiritually centred nurses
• Foster a learning community and provide ongoing education opportunities to support faith community health

Program Components

1. Summer Intensive June 2025: Dates to be determined

A week-long intensive program to introduce registered nurses to wholistic health care, spiritual healing, and parish nursing as a ministry. The program will combine simultaneous online instruction with personal reflection opportunities as well as interactive networking and prayer giving students an opportunity to develop genuine camaraderie and friendship. Some reading and reflection work is required both prior to and following the summer intensive. 

Included are topics such as:

• Scriptural foundations of whole-person health care
• History of Christian healing
• Understanding spiritual nursing practice
• Roles of the parish nurse
• Professional practice and legal issues
• Values and ethics in health decisions
• Working in a ministry team
• Prayer, devotions and worship leadership
• Theological reflection
• Establishing a parish nursing ministry

Summer Residency 2018

Clinical Bioethicist