Parish Nurses

Parish Nurses Establish a Network

The first gathering of LCMS Central Illinois District (CID) Parish Nurses was held on Saturday, July 14, 2012 at the LCMS Central Illinois District Office in Springfield, IL. Five nurses attended that meeting, along with Glennn Goeres who serves the district as its Education Executive.

After introductions, conversation was held related to parish nurse ministries in each particular congregation represented. There was discussion of team ministry, the role of the nurse in terms of reporting, oversight, and receiving direction, the need for resources, documentation concerns, and the need for better education/information sharing about what parish nurses can bring to a ministry. It was widely agreed upon that most/many pastors in our district have little knowledge of what parish nursing could do for their ministries. Ways to remedy that were discussed.

Kim Meyer, CID Rep for Parish Nursing, will pursue having a display table and information at the October pastors conference. She also plans to attempt getting on the program to present at a future pastors conference.

Some successful, specific ministries were shared: new baby visits that include a gift bag from the church, prayer shawls, a card ministry for those bereaved, shut-in visits, a birth ministry, Vial of Life program, physical assessment and referral, spiritual care, prayer...the possibilities are endless and are limited only by the needs of your parishioners and the resources of time, talent, and finances.

There were 2 nurses present who are salaried. The other three nurses volunteer their gifts and talents. One of those 3 is fairly inactive but is searching for ways to revive the parish nurse ministry in her church. While the style of service looks different for all of us, none of it is unimportant.

Future meeting dates and locations were discussed, along with the possibility of including a topic specific educational component into each gathering. The meeting closed with a devotion/meditation. To find out more about this network, contact Kim Meyer at kimmeyerrn@hotmail.com.

Parish Nurse Resources

Dr. Marci Schnorr, National Parish Nurse Coordinator 
(815) 562-2744 Work  (St. Paul Lutheran Church, Rochelle, IL)
      (815) 562-6823 Home
      (815) 761-0600 Cell
Marcyschnorr2009@gmail.com

Dr. Carol Lueders-Bolwerk, Concordia University Wisconsin 
(262) 243-4233 Work
      (262) 675-6966 Home
Carol.lueders.bolwerk@cuw.edu

Kim Meyer, Lay Minister/Parish Nurse, District Representative for Parish Nursing 
(217) 546-4532 Work
      (217) 546-1321 Home
      (217) 622-9092 Cell
Kimmeyerrn@hotmail.com

Lutheran Parish Nurse International
Bible studies, health topics, parish nurse news, etc.
www.lpni.org

LWML Website
Women’s Bible study materials can be obtained here.
www.lwml.org

LCMS Website
Use the site’s search engine by inserting a topic keyword (cancer, hospice, etc.) and performing the search.  In the subsequent page that opens, check under each of the various options for resources: Docs, Videos, Blogs, and the like.
www.lcms.org

Moments of Grace - Hymns, Worship Services, and Meditations for Caring and Healing Ministries 
A devotional tool to use with patients and families.  Available from Creative Communications for the Parish.
www.creativecommunications.com

Your Pastor

Your congregation members

Other parish nurses…yes, ask each other!