“Probably my greatest joy is to be able to combine my nursing career with my faith journey by sharing my expertise and experience in health care along with the hope and comfort of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ,” said Sue Ann Glusenkamp, a faith community nurse for almost 12 years who currently serves Augustana Lutheran Church in Denver.
Glusenkamp is a member of the Lutheran Faith Community Nurse Association (LCFNA), an independent organization that focuses on integrating faith and health in ministry. What began in 2004 as the Evangelical Lutheran Parish Nurse Association, a local organization in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, now has 131 members across the country. The association was established for registered nurses who serve in a Lutheran congregation or community, or who are Lutheran and serve in a congregation of another denomination.
Carol DeSchepper, executive director of the LFCNA, said faith community nursing is a specialty recognized by the American Nurses Association. These licensed registered nurses have completed additional preparations specific to the role of serving in the church. They may collaborate with and supervise other volunteers who also support the ministry. These nurses focus on the wholistic health of individuals and families, caring for body, mind and spirit.
“[Faith community] nurses,” Glusenkamp said, “feel they have been called to this position, to this ministry, in their nursing profession, and listen to that voice and have heard it, because that’s why they are doing what they’re doing.”
Care for the whole person
In the mid-1980s, Granger Westberg, an ELCA pastor, launched the parish nurse program, now recognized internationally as Faith Community Nursing. The Westberg Institute for Faith Community Nursing was established in 1986 to support the profession through education and resources.
The roles and job titles identifying faith community nurses vary from congregation to congregation, depending on the community’s needs: integrator of faith and health, health counselor, health educator, trainer of volunteers, coordinator of health groups, referral agent. They focus on the health and spiritual well-being of their congregation, often partnering with a health ministry team.
Programs and activities may include, but aren’t limited to, health screenings and education; support groups for cancer, grief and caregiving; exercise classes; knitting and prayer shawl ministries; and mental health care for families and individuals.
“As a faith community nurse, I am ecstatic to have left behind a job that merely compensated me monetarily and to now have a job that truly rewards me in a different way.”
“My intent is to help people remember that we are holistic people, and we need to care for the whole person—body, mind and spirit,” said Becky Elsbernd, who has served at Trinity Lutheran Church in Mason City, Iowa, since 2004. “Spiritual care is incorporated in all that I do as a parish nurse.”
“Spiritual care is the salient focus of the faith community nurse,” said Dean Black, faith community nurse at Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit in Emmaus, Pa. “According to our job description, the faith community nurse serves a specific purpose: to enrich and support the spiritual, mental and physical well-being of our congregational and community families. I never intrude on anyone’s health care team, but I provide steadfast support and guidance in managing their health-related issues. I actively urge them to collaborate with their health care team to enhance their overall health and well-being.
“As a faith community nurse, I am ecstatic to have left behind a job that merely compensated me monetarily and to now have a job that truly rewards me in a different way.”
Making connections
Visitation—checking on members in their homes and in hospitals, rehabilitation centers and assisted living environments—is a key component of the ministry of faith community nurses.
“One of my greatest joys is my visitation,” said Rachel Little, parish nurse of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Vero Beach, Fla. “The more I visit, the more I hear amazing stories of their lives and their love for Jesus. The connections develop trust and honesty. I can see how God is working in their lives.”
“Spending time with someone will always renew and refresh my vigor and commitment to this role as faith community nurse,” Glusenkamp said. “When I sit with folks, I inquire about a favorite hymn. Many times I hear, ‘Oh, I can’t sing anymore.’ It never fails: as soon as I start singing the words of a cherished hymn, that ‘non-singer’ will join in with vitality, remembering most words as well.”
“It’s nice to have that moment of having somebody grabbing your hand, looking you in the eye and saying God is with you, you’re going to be OK.”
Dick Larson, who attends Augustana, recalled a recent pre-op visit from Glusenkamp: “I was having a knee replacement, and she called on me a few minutes before I was going in for surgery, and it was really settling for me. She has unique ways of doing things. She said, ‘Let me just sing a song for you. What song would you like?’”
The two sang “Children of the Heavenly Father” moments before his surgery.
“It’s nice to have that moment of having somebody grabbing your hand, looking you in the eye and saying God is with you, you’re going to be OK,” Larson said.
Elsbernd said she is honored to support people through prayer and resources. “The joy of being a faith community nurse is that you have the privilege of accompanying people on their life journey over a long period of time,” she said. “I have walked with people as they have put loved ones in facilities, as they have recovered in hospital rooms, and as they have grieved over a variety of losses. We have done life together in so many meaningful ways.”
