FAIRMONT — A nursing initiative designed to provide health care in churches is free to Marion County nurses.
The West Virginia University School of Nursing offers a Faith Community Nursing course for individuals interested in helping address the specific needs of faith-based organizations. The course can be completed anywhere in the state, but for the fall semester, Mingo and Marion Counties are being prioritized.
The eight-week course is set to begin in mid-November. The course was made free by a scholarship from the Rusty and Kimberly Hutson Family Foundation.
“We’re looking for ways to educate nurses across the state of West Virginia, and our foundations of faith community nursing course is all online. So any nurse anywhere in the state can take the training, without, you know, there’s no travel required. And we receive some financial support to be able to offer the course through scholarship funds, so that any nurse who wants to take it in, you know, in different areas of the state, we’ve got those scholarship funds to cover the cost,” West Virginia University Clinical Nursing Associate Professor Angel Smothers said.
School of Nursing faculty members Smothers, and Stephanie Young will facilitate the nationally-recognized faith community nursing courses.
The program will help nurses use skills they already have developed to work within faith community settings, where they are able to provide support, advocacy and education for community members in the area, Smothers said.
“Health issues are among the top concerns of people. Churches are trusted places where information can be shared. If a member of the church is a nurse with this specific training, they can — he can — answer questions, perform some functions and be readily accessible to what faith means, within the context of health and wholeness,” West Virginia University Campus Ministries Rev. D.D. Meighen said.
Smothers said she is looking forward to the semester and connecting nurses in other counties around the state in the future.
“We’re looking forward to connecting the nurses who are taking the training in Marion County, with the nurses who are taking the training and Mingo County. These are very different counties with very different populations of people. But, we’re wanting to connect them so that they can learn from each other,” Smothers said.
The professional practice of faith community nursing program focuses on the intentional care of the spirit as part of the process of promoting holistic health and preventing or minimizing illness in a faith community, according to a press release.
“A big part of what we do in nursing is advocacy — we advocate for patients, no matter what setting we work in. And the faith community nursing role is not new. But, we’re starting to see more faith communities investing in and paying faith community nurses, whereas in the past, it’s been volunteer positions,” Smothers said.
The course is also open to chaplains, pastors, social workers and others but, only registered nurses who complete the course can use the title “Faith Community Nurse.”
To sign up or for more information on the course, email Angel Smothers at asmother@hsc.wvu.edu.
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