Nursing
Resources
for Those with Chronic
Illness and Pain
Being
a nurse is definitely a calling and
for those who are a Christian nurse
practitioner. It can be challenging
as you may find Christian nurses in
moral conflict with a patient. There
can be many ethical dilemmas in nursing
from the Christian perspective. Some
even say that there a nursing shortage
can cause a lack of care from a Christian
view.
We've
put together a list of resources,
articles, ministries and other materials
we think will be helpful for Christian
nurses when you are caring for chronically
ill patients. We'd love to hear your
suggestions, or even articles, to
add to this page, especially from
Christian nurses who live with a chronic
illness themselves.
There
aren't that many chronically
ill people in my church, right?
According
to theChronic
Care in American study nearly
1 in 2 people in the USA live
with chronic illness or long-term
pain.
How
much does a HopeKeepers group
cost?
Our
web site has a lot of free materials.
You a buy a HopeKeepers
Start Up Kit to completely
provide your HopeKeepers leader
with a tool chest of items to
prepare with and use in handling
not only those tough small group
personal questions, but the
difficult ones about "Why
am I not healed yet?" It
is $295 or
items can be purchased separately.
Why
do we need a HopeKeepers ministry?
Nearly
1 in 2 people have an illness;
96% of illnesses are invisible.
75% of marriages with illness
end in divorce;
Depression
is 15-20% higher for the
chronically ill than for
the average person;
Various
studies have reported that
physical illness or uncontrollable
physical pain are major
factors in up to 70% of
suicides; and more than
50% of these suicidal patients
were under 35 years of age.
However, the significance
of one's faith has shown
to lower one's risk of depressive
symptoms and aid one in
better handling a stressful
medical event. *
Sources
Illness
is not a condition of just
the elderly. Illness is extremely
difficult to live with. Those
who are Christians still feel
alone, misunderstood and hurt
by the reactions or lack of
acknowledge of those they
love, especially people in
the church body.
Who
should run our group?
Rest
Ministries only requirement
of HopeKeepers groups is that
someone reside in some form
of leadership that lives with
illness. We want to make sure
those who are ill can sill use
their gifts, as well as keep
the content authentic.
Where
do I start?
Discover
who may have this calling and
present HopeKeepers
to them. If someone is coming
to you with the idea, be open-minded,
listen, empathetic, and see
how God can use one's pain to
design their ministry. One doesn't
have to be healed in order to
serve the Lord.
Things
Nurses Should Know
Are
You Talking to Your Patients About Their Faith?
A
recent poll revealed that 63% believe it ís
good for doctors to talk to patients about spiritual
faith--and nurses spend even MORE time with
the patient. Yet only 10% say a doctor has talked
to them about their spiritual faith as a factor
in physical health. USA Weekend Feb.
16-20, 1996 A great way to reach them is through
Scripture
Scrubs!
Nurses
are Trusted!
Women
spend an average of 20 minutes or more talking
about health concerns with their nurse practitioner
(median time: 34 minutes research shows) –
and they trust nurses more than any other type
of health care provider (Gallup Polls, The Cochrane
Library Review). For 9 of the last 10 years,
nurses have been listed in Gallup Polls as the
most trusted professional group in the United
States, scoring higher than judges, police officers
and doctors.
Nurses
are more likely than doctors to recall their
patients by name and remember their health care
problems ...Each interaction with women reinforces
what they know to be true and builds upon a
relationship of trust and partnership.
As
consumers make a shift in primary care providers,
nurse practitioners are emerging to take on
the bulk of primary care in the U.S. —DTC
Journal, 2006
Resources
Nurses
Should Have on Their Desks
On
Call: Daily Encouragement for Nurses
by Lois Rowe; This great devotional book was
recently reprinted and Rest Ministries editor,
Lisa Copen gave an endorsement.
Illness
Descriptions: 34 pages of illness descriptions,
what to expect when someone is diagnosed,
the professional organization that serves
those with that illness, etc.
Many of our
programs are "Sunroom
Enhanced" meaning you can find additional social network communities
in the Sunroom, as well as the regular program itself. For example there
is an email men's group and also men's groups in the Sunroom for additional
interaction.
