St. Mary's Parish Nurse Ministry Program
Ruth E. Williams, RN, MEPD, MSN

Dear Viewers, Peace to all in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. HAPPY AND BLESSED EASTER. "Commit your ways to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." (Psalm 37.5) April is known as Cancer Control, Immunization, and Environmental Month.

About the Coordinator... A Parish Nurse is a... The Basic Parish Nurse Ministry Program is... Examples of Parish Nurse Ministries... St. Mary's Parish Nurse Newsletter... Notes from Students & Clients... Home Page

This month let's talk about culture. Culture, according to the Webster Dictionary means, to cultivate; improvement of the mind and manners; and the skills, arts, of a given people in a given period. Madeliene Leininger, a nurse theorist, states that culture refers to the learned, shared, and transmitted values, beliefs, norms, and the practices of a particular group that guides thinking, decisions, and actions in patterned ways. www.fpb.cwre.edu Thus, what is cultural competency? Cultural Competency is a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in an agency, system, or among professional that enables them to work together in cross cultural situations. www.omhrc.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl-2@1vHD=11 So, how does this influence health care for the parish nurse? Madeline Leininger states that cultural congruent care is cognitively based, assistive, supportive, facilitative, enabling acts or decisions to fit the individual, group or institutional cultural values, beliefs and lifeways to provide meaningful and beneficial health care. www.fpb.cwre.edu The parish nurse in any given parish/church needs to have knowledge of the culture in the church in which she/he practices to give this care for an individual or group. This nursing care strives to improve this congruent care to all peoples in order to help them change, modify, improve satisfying health outcomes and well-being. Please see your PARISH NURSE. "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Galatians 6.9 My book, A COLLECTION OF PARISH NURSE NEWSLETTERS is available at www.dorrancebookstore.com; amazon.com; Eden Book Store (1-877-627-5653) toll free. Ocooch Book Store (1-608-647-8826).