Career Profile: Parish Nurse

See Available Parish Nurse Schools

Job Description:

Parish nurse professionals combine their medical knowledge with faith-based practices. They are registered nurses who are mainly tasked to provide physical care and spiritual encouragement to patients.

Basically, parish nursing is a form of specialized nursing practice that consider intentional healing of the spirit as an integral part of promoting holistic care to patients. Instead of just focusing on the illness, parish nurse professionals give emphasis on holistic wellness, health promotion, and disease prevention. Some of the important duties and responsibilities of parish nurse professionals include the following:

• providing personal health counseling to patients as well as their families
• educate faith community members regarding the importance of healthy living
• supervise training for community volunteers
• coordinate and organize health support groups within the community
• make referrals to other healthcare specialists when necessary
• offer counseling on various health-related issues
• act as a church liaison and closely coordinate with community health centers

In general, parish nurse professionals assume the role of a health advocate, counselor, educator, and volunteer coordinator.

Work Environment:

Parish nurse professionals typically work in community centers, religious congregations, and churches. They spend most of their time promoting health, counseling, and advocating faith-based practices. Working as a parish nurse professional can be emotionally demanding but it is also extremely rewarding.

Furthermore, parish nurse professionals must have good observational, listening, and communication skills since they interact and counsel a variety of people on a regular basis.

Education and Training Requirements:

o qualify for a parish nurse program, it is important that aspirants earn either a 2-year associate degree or 4-year Bachelor's degree in nursing. They need to obtain an RN license to become eligible for the continuing studies program. After that, they have to enroll in parish nursing programs that are accredited by the International Parish Nurse Resource Center (IPNRC) to gain knowledge on faith-based practices. Pursuing a Master's degree in nursing will allow aspirants to increase their chances of landing lucrative job offers.

Salary Range:

Income range of parish nurse professionals vary greatly depending on the following factors:

• community size
• scope of work
• years of experience
• educational background
• certifications

On the average, parish nurse professionals receive annual earnings of around $47,710 - $57,280. Meanwhile, those who have acquired advised parish training, and pursued higher educational degrees are earning more than $69, 850 per year.

Job Outlook:

Employment outlook for parish nurse professionals is very promising since more communities are now realizing the need of hiring trained medical professionals to address a broad spectrum of health-related issues in their congregation. That being said, it is projected that the demand for parish nurse professionals will slowly gain momentum in the coming years.

So, start a meaningful career as a certified parish nurse by browsing through our comprehensive list of accredited parish nurse schools!

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*Program Availability Varies By Location and Often Changes. To get the most up-to-date information, use the links we provide to request additional information from a local campus representative.