Podcast 179 — Practical Professionals: Combining Nursing, Faith and Practical Homeopathy®

Kate: (02:49)

Absolutely. I can’t wait to get into your story.

So, let’s start out by — if you wouldn’t mind — sharing a little bit about your journey. And I’m really interested in that nursing component where you made a little bit of a shift after a career in nursing, and now you went into faith community nursing, and now that’s becoming integrated with your homeopathy education. So, talk to us a little bit about that journey.

Kena:

Sure. Interestingly enough, my mother was also a registered nurse, so it kind of runs in the family — or a miasm, I guess. (A little humor there.) But that to be said, I did traditional bedside nursing, medical floor, went through the AIDS epidemic at bedside, so it was really relevant to things that we’ve encountered in more recent years with that experience.

But somewhere along the way, I knew that I wanted to take the education I had and be of service to others outside the hospital setting, with people that would come to me saying, “Well, you’re a nurse, what do you think?” And I had to be so thoughtful about what to do with that.

So, I discovered that there was a way to combine that with my faith. It used to be called parish nursing, but they broadened that term to be called faith community nursing. And every state board of nursing is regulated differently, so it may not apply to every state.

In the state that I reside in, which happens to be Arizona, it is a recognized discipline and a scope of practice that they apply to nurses who want to pursue that to maintain an active RN license, which is what I chose to do.

And my reason for doing that was so that I could bridge the gap with the people that I had a lot of relationship and conversations with, within an appropriate way … in terms of how do I bridge the knowledge and experience I have with my nursing, coupled with the unique community that I have a relationship with.

In order to do that, there was a group — I don’t think they’re offering it now, probably because of funding — where I did some training that taught me basically how to apply my experience and knowledge in a faith community setting. And so that’s pretty much how I stepped into that … and to this day.

Kate:

So, for those people who might be listening to the podcast, and they’re a nurse, and they want to explore this option in their state or maybe even Arizona: What tips do you have to help them explore this option?

Kena:

Great question. There’s a couple of organizations. If you do an internet search and insert the term either “parish nursing” or “faith community nursing,” and a couple of organizations will pop up.

From there, you can read through educational opportunities. You can get very certified, so to speak. You can make it very technical, but it’s not required for all boards of nursing. It can simply be a declaration of what you’re doing.

Now, it is important for those that choose to do that, at least in my state, to keep records of your hours, whether you’re employed in that role or, in my case, I volunteer those hours. So, it’s recorded and documented to show that I’m actually providing that kind of education to the folks that I serve.

Kate:

That’s so interesting, and thanks for that information. I’m sure there are people who want to look into this.

What is the highlight of this new direction that you’ve gone with nursing and working with your faith communities?

Kena:

Highlight is, I think, it’s a really necessary gap. It’s a bridge of trust. And so, it also is very weighty in that I think it takes you to the highest standard of accountability personally, morally.

Kate:

Yes.

Kena:

I don’t know how else to say it. At least that’s how I feel about it.

Just because of the familiarity of knowing somebody, I always have in the back of my awareness that they’re viewing me through a different lens — a trusted lens. And it certainly is not my desire in any way, shape or form to ever needlessly betray that out of stepping out of my scope of practice when I’m in that role or otherwise.

Kate:

So, do you have any tips for nurses who want to do this now that you’ve made that transition and been doing this for a while?

Kena:

I think every individual is unique, and also how they connect that with their expression of faith.

But I guess for me, if I were to say, “tips” and put it in that way of thinking, I would say it has to come from your heart. It’s not just a technical skill. It’s not as simple as taking vitals at bedside, so to speak, or hospital-setting type interests. It’s a deeper level.

It has to be something where you feel really connected with from an innermost being, in service to others with respect to who they are, where they’re at, but also remembering it is still a scope of practice, and with that goes an understood code of conduct.

So, it doesn’t give you permission, so to speak, to step into clergy role unless it’s defined in some particular way by a body, I would assume, or a group. I don’t know.

In my case, it’s strictly understood when I do that in terms of more health education — a bridge of understanding — but someone that understands how that works within the expression of faith for that group.

So, I think it’s really important to be connected to the group and share a common set of values and stay within what is defined as within that group.

Kate:

What does that look like on a regular basis? Do you go to a building to see people? How do they come to see you, or do you go to their homes, or what does that look like?

Kena:

Typically, someone is reaching out by email, text, phone calls — all those kind of ways — and it can be all of the above. It could be a phone call; it could be an email.

Or, for example, a situation I can think of that illustrates this: They had their extended family member in a hospice setting. And so, I came in service as a faith community nurse to the congregational members to support them in terms of that environment. Even though they didn’t have a lot of questions, just to support them in that environment and answer any questions that would be helpful for them in that setting.

And so, that’s going to a physical place when that’s requested, or in the home or in the hospital. I’m very comfortable in that environment. And so sometimes, it’s just reassuring to have somebody that you kind of feel like is on your side that can bring clarity to what’s going on with respect to where you’re at at that time.

Kate:

Kena, this sounds so beautiful. I get chills just listening to you talk about this.

What if I’m a person who wants to, say, look for someone like that in my community … someone, a faith community nurse? How would I go about finding that? Do I talk to a local churches and just see if they know of anything, or how do I find someone like you?

Kena:

Well, that probably would be a bit of a challenge. I wouldn’t say it’s the majority of folks out there. In fact, a lot of nurses I’ve encountered had no idea that it even existed.

So, I think the first place I would stop … if I was really trying to choose, I would reach out to the state board and see if there’s any way that they provide a list.

If not, I would start out with my local place that I participate in, a place of faith, or ask if anybody there knew of a congregation of some sort that supported that.

But typically in my experience, nurses know each other. Word gets around. Especially if you say it’s a secret, we’ll find out.