The parish nursing course is sponsored by EMU’s Adult Degree Completion Program (ADCP).  The course is offered to any registered nurse or upper-level nursing student in an RN nursing education program.

“Parish nurses address the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of people – not seeking to separate the parts from the whole,” said Tammy Kiser, MSN, EMU assistant professor of nursing. “The role of each parish nurse is different as the needs of the faith community determine the areas of the nurses’ focus.”

‘Educator, Counselor and Advocate’

Arlene G. Wiens, PhD, chair of EMU’s nursing department, said parish nursing “sees the roles of the community health nurse as health educator, counselor, advocate and referral agent in a faith-based setting.”

Wiens said that the course “is based on the accepted philosophy and practice of parish nursing and examines the roots of health and healing found in many religious traditions.” Wiens noted that “critical thinking strategies, such as Socratic questioning, will be used to analyze the spiritual dimension of health and healing for the practitioner as well as clients being served.

For more information contact Tammy Kiser at 540-432-4166; tamela.kiser@emu.edu.

The Stephens City Mennonite Church, helmed by Jim Musser, an EMU grad, and his wife Aldine, a current EMS student, is taking the health and well-being of both its members and residents of the surrounding community seriously.

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