ABSTRACT
Many hospital nurses in the early 1990s became weary of the “length of stay” game that maximized income margins at the sacrifice of quality patient care. Discouraged and powerless to change the system, nurses began exploring work options outside the hospital. The concept of parish nursing was emerging, and many nurses in the 1990s were drawn to explore the concept. This chapter relates the writer’s assessment of the educational needs and demands of nurses who became interested in parish nursing as it unfolded in upstate South Carolina in the mid-1990s. Nonnurses were also interested in providing ministries of health and their requests for training were also considered. The continuing education programs that were developed to meet the needs of nurses transitioning from institution settings to community settings are described. Contained in this chapter are the outlines and objectives of short educational programs promoting the parish nurse journey. Not all of the nurses who explored parish nursing stayed with it. Lack of readiness for ministry was probably the biggest reason for dropping out, and several nurses strongly stated that parish nursing should be paid work. For those who discerned the call to ministries of health, hospitals often stood in the gap and provided support at a time when denominations were unresponsive.
