Exploring the Experiences, Challenges, and Approaches of Parish Nurses in Their Community Practice.

PURPOSE: To explore the personal experiences, challenges, and practices of parish nurses in their communities. METHOD/DESIGN: The overall study used a mixed methods concurrent embedded design to describe parish nurses' experiences with diabetes education and preconception counseling in their practice. Also included were descriptions of generalized practices. Therefore, this current report will focus on these broader experiences. Focus group data were collected using face-to-face, teleconference, and video conferencing formats with 48 nurses who consider themselves to be parish nurses and analyzed with content analysis. FINDINGS: Four qualitative themes were identified in the data: (1) Gaining Entry Through Trust, (2) Enhanced Focus on Spiritual Caring, (3) Accomplishing Much Despite Challenges, and (4) Practice Making a Difference. Parish nurses are uniquely situated to provide holistic care for the mind, body, and spirit of their patients. Despite the many positive aspects, parish nurses experience unique challenges, such as funding their practice and working independently. CONCLUSIONS: The parish nurses can play a vital role in providing holistic care to patients in a faith-based community. Future work is needed to address the challenges of parish nurses such as access to continuing education programs related to health topics of concern to their community members.

The effect of a faith community nurse network and public health collaboration on hypertension prevention and control.

BACKGROUND: As part of the Association of State and Territorial Health Official's Million Hearts State Learning Collaborative in 2014 and 2015, Washington County, Maryland formed a collaboration between the local health department, health system and faith community nurse network to address the undiagnosed and uncontrolled hypertension in the county. OBJECTIVES: Data were analyzed to determine the effect of a faith community nursing intervention of teaching blood pressure self-monitoring and coaching blood pressure and lifestyle changes in the at-risk and hypertensive population. METHODS: Thirty-nine faith community nurses offered a 3-month blood pressure self-monitoring and coaching intervention in 2014 and 2015 to 119 participants. A secondary data analysis using a repeated measure ANOVA to assess the differences in pre- and post-intervention systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings and a paired t-test to compare pre- and post-lifestyle scores was completed. RESULTS: A total of 109 participants completed the program and were included in the analysis and were showing decreased blood pressure readings and improved lifestyle satisfaction scores in six out of seven areas across the program period. CONCLUSION: Coaching by faith community nurses creates an environment of sustained support that can promote improved lifestyles and blood pressure changes over time.

The Evaluation of a Regional Faith Community Network's Million Hearts Program.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the Million Hearts initiative is to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. Maryland was one state in the Association of State and Territorial Health Official's Million Hearts State Learning Collaborative. Washington County, Maryland formed a collaboration between the County Health Department, Meritus Health System, and the Meritus Health Parish Nurse Coordinator to address hypertension in the county. PROGRAM PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION: Within a regional network of 52 faith communities, the Parish Nurse Coordinator recruited 25 faith community nurses to participate in a three-month program. Nurses were trained on proper blood pressure measurement and 22 nurses identified 58 participants engaged in blood pressure self-monitoring and coaching for lifestyle changes. Additionally, nurses took 1,729 blood pressures and provided health education to individuals within their congregations. PROGRAM EVALUATION: Fifty-one participants participated in blood pressure self-monitoring and lifestyle coaching with faith community nurses. There was improvement in six out of seven lifestyle areas. Eight-two percent of participants (N = 42) decreased their systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure over three months. CONCLUSION: Coaching provided by faith community nurses can create an environment of sustained support to promote improved lifestyle and blood pressure changes over time.