Coordinator Information
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Being a Coordinator of a parish nurse program requires education, knowledge, skills, and gifts in the areas of community health nursing, not-for-profit management, and faith community life. Since Health Ministry can be found in any faith community, the coordinator must be open to many faith traditions and be willing to spend time in all parts of the community promoting health ministry to people, groups, organizations, agencies, and faith communities.

To be a successful coordinator, one should possess:

• Administrative skills to organize and guide the program through the organizational structures both business and faith communities,
• Experience with interviewing, screening, hiring, supervising, evaluating and sometimes firing employees or volunteers,
• Management and mentoring skills to supervise a geographically scattered staff,
• Nursing knowledge for teaching, problem-solving, and maintaining the professional standards of Faith Community Nursing,
• Experience in parish/faith community nursing through a basic education course and a parish nurse practice,
• A personal faith experience to understand and speak about spirituality,
• The confidence to work with various congregational/faith cultures,
• Strong communication skills to collaborate with faith communities, administration, and community agencies,
• An attention to detail to complete the paperwork required for documentation, reporting interventions and outcomes, correspondence, and budgeting – clerical help may/may not available,
• Flexibility, strength, patience, respect, and innovation to work with varied faith traditions.

IPNRC Offerings:

Parish nurse coordinators find great benefit in continuing education and networking so the IPNRC provides several avenues for coordinators to connect and learn from each other.

• Basic Parish Nurse Curriculum: To educate parish/faith community nurses in a network/program, the IPNRC has developed, with the assistance of experienced parish nurses, a basic curriculum to teach the varied aspects of health ministry. Educational Partners of the IPNRC can be found in most states across the country and post their classes for Basic Preparation and Coordinators. Click here for a list of class type, class dates, location, and contact person.
• Coordinator Networking: To connect and network with other coordinators, Maureen Daniels, Director of International Programs & Coordinator’s Support, distributes a coordinator’s email that includes current parish nurse information, resources, and a platform for posting questions about coordinating a practice. Click here to join the listserve.
• Coordinator Manual: For information on issues of the coordinator’s role, implementing a program, policies, financial concerns, human resources, marketing, and more, the IPNRC has published a manual that is pertinent to the world of parish nursing. Click here for a link to that resource called Parish Nurse Coordinator Manual: A Guide to Creating & Developing Your Program.

Find additional information at the following links:

B/P protocol: Download free guidelines recommended by the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute
Sample Coordinator Job Description
Locate fellow Coordinators via Coordinator List by Location 
Resources for Coordinators (Books on PN)
Granger’s Vision for Health Cabinets
How to Form a Health Cabinet (Implementation)