Parish Nursing

Parish Nursing promotes health and wellness within the faith community. This ministry acts as a catalyst for healthy communities by collaborating with the parish and area agencies in an ongoing development and awareness of healthy lifestyles.

This is accomplished through personal health counseling, health education, appropriate referrals, support group facilitation, patient advocacy, and integration of faith and health through prayer and health related workshops and screenings. Kathy Ford is the Parish Nurse at Holy Spirit, she coordinates all Pastoral Care Ministries and makes home, nursing-home and hospital visits per request.

Health education and wellness

Blood Pressure Screening – Monthly blood pressure screening by registered nurse volunteers, typically held the first Sunday of the month from 8::00 am to 12:00 pm, from Sept. through May.

What is Parish Nursing?

There are over 12,000 Parish Nurses nationwide and an increasing international movement with four more countries implementing a parish nurse program in their churches as well. Seventeen of the 12,000 parish nurses in the U.S. are right here in the Joliet Diocese.

The other Catholic Churches surrounding Naperville who have a parish nurse are: St. Joan of Arc, Saints Peter and Paul, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Mary Immaculate (Plainfield), St. Mary’s (West Chicago) and St. Michael’s (Wheaton).

Parish Nursing started in 1986 in the Lutheran tradition and has grown and developed over the years within most Christian faiths throughout the United States.

Parish Nursing is a specialty practice recognized by the American Nurses Association and some of the functions a parish nurse provides are: Monthly blood pressure screenings, visits to hospital and home, providing emotional and spiritual support as well as referrals and resources to those in need, provide other health screenings such as cardiovascular and stroke, and developing pastoral care ministries that supports the congregation such as Stephen Ministry, Prayer Blankets, Prayer Network, and Ministers of Care.

What you won’t find a Parish Nurse doing is providing clinical services---hands-on intervention like administering shots, drawing blood, or doing dressing changes.