Our mission is to advance faith community nursing by providing a whole-person approach to individual and population health. Faith community nurses bridge faith and health by providing whole-person care in our congregations and communities. Faith communities are effective places to reach out and promote the physical, emotional and spiritual health of community members. Serving 7-county Twin Cities Metro Area and beyond with online programming.
We accomplish our mission through direct support, programming, and leadership to more than 200 faith community nurses (FCNs). These FCNs serve tens of thousands of individuals in the Twin Cities. FCNs spend 66% of their time serving older adults.
Faith community nurses are licensed RNs with specialized training. Their nursing practice centers on health promotion, disease prevention, and spiritual care and can take place within a variety of community settings. At the core of this nursing specialty is the ongoing patient/nurse relationship. As part of the client’s healthcare team, they provide coordination and care over time and can be their patients’ advocate. This relationship allows nurses to help patients with managing diseases, patient-empowerment, and patient advocacy.
Today, our core activities include the Foundations of Faith Community Nursing course, continuing education symposiums, community-based wellness programming. Our wellness programming serves older adults from all walks of life. We began providing evidence-based programs (EBP) to older adults in 2016. We currently offer five programs in falls prevention and caregiver support. In 2022, we began providing whole-person wellness screenings to older adults. Older adults are more likely to opt into cognitive, depression, and overall wellness screenings when administered in familiar, accessible spaces, such as faith communities, community centers, and senior living buildings. Wellness planning provides a person-centered approach, empowering individuals to take charge of their health. During the wellness screening individuals learn their body metrics, vitals, receive a cognitive and depression screening. Individuals determine which dimensions of wellness, such as emotional or intellectual, they would like to focus on. They develop goals, identify barriers, and are provided with resources to help them overcome their barriers. Through data analysis and care coordination, we are able to identify programs needed within specific communities, where more EBP leaders should be developed, and most importantly enroll older adults in the programs they need to improve their quality of life. Each of our evidence-based programs has been shown to improve health outcomes and reduce risk for injury, illness or disability among adults aged 60+.