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8 nurses anointed into parish program

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| Monday, January 10, 2005 12:27 AM CST | () comments

Rachelle Treiber

When Sharon Brooks retired from a career in nursing that lasted more than four decades, her friends knew she was not yet done helping others.

Now the Bettendorf woman, who last worked as a school nurse in the Bettendorf Community School District, has combined her health-care experience and personal faith to better serve the community through Trinity Regional Health System's parish nurse program.

Brooks and seven other Quad-City area registered nurses were anointed into their positions as parish nurses during a ceremony Sunday at First Baptist Church in Moline.

Each of the parish nurses are affiliated with a different congregation, with the goal of aiding church members in coping with various health conditions.

For Brooks, the parish nurse for Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bettendorf, the new role is something she has wanted to do for a long time.

"I'm really looking forward to this," she said. "It is about helping people by connecting healing and spirituality � because studies have shown that people heal quicker and more completely if they have that spiritual connection."

The Rev. Richard Pokora, pastor at Brooks' church, said the overall goal of parish nurse professionals is to promote health and wellness within the church community.

The nurses, Pokora said, provide assistance with health promotion, offer referrals, make hospital and nursing home visits, coordinate volunteers and assist with parishioners' spirituality.

"They bring to the church a whole range of services, from bringing spirituality to those who are ill, to working in preventative care and bringing health and wellness programs to the congregation," he said"The parish nurses are there to council and support people in any way they can."

Pokora said this is the first time they have had a parish nurse at Redeemer, and with the addition, the church now has what it needs to form a health ministry committee.

"We plan to have doctors, nurses, and others in our congregation get involved, to further encourage wellness within the church community," he said.

To become a parish nurse, individuals must complete a 42-hour orientation class at Trinity, which uses curriculum from the International Parish Nurse Resource Center in St. Louis.

The program's director, Mary Slutz, has said this is the 18th year they have offered classes for registered nurses through the parish program.

Slutz said many nurses gain personal and emotional satisfaction from parish nursing.

"Not only do they feel they have answered a calling to a ministry, but they continue to learn through their clients and their congregation," she said.

In addition to Brooks, other parish nurses anointed Sunday include Sandy Claerhout, of First Baptist Church in Moline; Doris Bussan, who took the course independently; Jeanette Eastman of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Moline; Joann Stribling, of Christ United Methodist Church in East Moline; Elsie Plomateer of Osco Community Church in Osco, Ill.; Kathy Kinmonth of St. Ann's Catholic Church in Long Grove, Iowa; and Ruthann Lewis of First Evangelical Free Church in Moline.

Rachelle Treiber can be contacted at (563) 383-2363 or rtreiber @qctimes.com.