Nurse Parish Ministry

Tremont United

Methodist Church

112 W. Pearl St.

PO Box 52

Tremont, IL 61568

Phone: (309) 925-2011

Fax: (309) 925-2021

tumc@tremontumc.org

pastor@tremontumc.org

mollyhawk@tremontumc.org

web admins.

jerrylconnelly@comcast.net

Pastor's Hours - Tuesday - Friday 9am -12pm & 1pm - 3pm

Associate Pastor Hours - Sun. & Wed

Secretary's Hours - Monday - Friday 8:30am to12pm

Parish Nurse Ministry

Health Links and Information Nurse Parish Needs Assessment

Parish Nurse Program

The concept and practice of parish nursing was introduced in 1985 by Granger E. Westberg (1911-1999). Westberg was a Lutheran minister who held a joint professorship in medicine and religion at the University of Chicago and a professorship in preventive medicine at the University Of Illinois College Of Medicine. Westberg is credited with recognizing the close connection between religion, medicine, and total person health and with founding the first parish nurse programs established in 6 Lutheran churches in the Chicago area in 1984. Since this time, parish nursing has continued to grow and evolve and is now international in its scope.

Meet Your Parish Nurses

Cindy Kohtz, RN Kristen Dotson, RN

Val Moore, RN Laura Saal, RN

Functions

A parish nurse is a registered nurse who has had additional training and serves the member of a congregation. In serving the congregation, the parish nurse may adopt one or more of the following roles:

1.       Health Counselor

2.       Educator of Holistic Health

3.       Advocate/Resource Person

4.       Liaison to Community Services

5.       Teacher and/or Coordinator of Volunteers in Health-Related Activities

6.       Healer – Body, Mind, Spirit

While this scope is quite broad, parish nursing does have its limits. A parish nurse does not provide hands-on care, nor does a parish nurse attempt to act as a substitute for the services of a pastor or associate pastor. Yet, the parish nurse role holds tremendous potential to better the holistic health of the congregation served.

Our Current Activities:

The Parish Nurse Program at Tremont United Methodist began in 2009. Currently, we take blood pressures every 3^rd Sunday from 9:30-10:00AM and 10:30-11:00AM in the Pastor’s office. Kristen has also developed and inserted monthly information on health related topics into the Sunday bulletins.

This past April, we held our first health fair and opened it to the community. We had 100-125 participants and were able to offer several free and very important services – screenings for stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm, diabetes, high cholesterol, hearing loss, glaucoma, peripheral vascular disease, pulmonary disease, and osteoporosis. We also had representatives from local health-related service agencies and donations for door prizes and refreshments. Thank you to all who were able to come, who made donations, and who gave their Saturday morning to help make the day a great success – Nicole Simkins, Joyce Harness, Carol Gibson, Donna Sinn, Ina Eckhoff, Peg Ramsey, and Gail Davis. We are blessed to have your support and hope to continue to serve our church family.

For more information you may contact Cindy r.kohtz@verizon.net or Kristen dotsonkristen@yahoo.com via email

Nurse Parish Needs Assessment - Please fill out and return to the church office or email Cindy or Kristen.