For congregations exloring a parish nurse ministry the following dialog guidelines are suggested. During the meeting general information about parish nursing is shared along with specific information regarding the particulars of the partnering health care institution along with the protocol for the development of the ministry of parish nursing practice. This may include a video presentation or provision of articles on the ministry of parish nursing practice.

At the conclusion of this dialog there may be a decision of continuing to work together or a clear indication that this is not the time or that the pastor, leadership or congregation is not interested in pursuing further discussion.

If there is interest and agreement to work together, a sequence of three meetings is suggested.

• Meeting One
• Meeting Two
• Meeting Three

Meeting One

• Prayer
• Introduction of committee members which are going to make up the task force or working group that will address the integration of the ministry of parish nursing into the congregation.
• Clarification of the roles of the committee members.
• Review of the purpose of the committee.
• Review the level of understanding of the committee members of the ministry of parish nursing practice.
• Preliminary discussion of the vision of the ministry of parish nursing practice in the congregation.
• Preparing for the next steps
• Next steps will include work with the mission statement of the congregation and development of a mission statement for health ministry in the congregation.
• This will include listing of current ministries within the congregation and identification of the findings from any congregational assessments that were done.
• Establish the date of the next meeting and request for leader of prayer for the next meeting

Meeting Two

• Prayer
• Review discussion of demographics of congregation or results of any asset/needs assessments.
• Review of the mission statement of the congregation.
• Development of a mission statement for health ministry within the congregation.
• Identification of what needs to happen to the new statement to receive endorsement and how will this statement and the endorsement be communicated to the congregation.
• Discussions regarding a parish nurse candidate.
• Church member vs. non member
• Denomination of the candidate
• Educational preparation
• Preparation for the next meeting
• Interview process
• Questions to ask parish nurse candidates
• Format for interviews
• Timelines
• Determination of date of the meeting and leader of prayer.

Meeting Three

• Prayer
• Review of candidate considerations
• Interview protocol
• Timelines
• List of questions
• Format of interviews
• Process for selecting a candidate
• Advertisement for candidates.
• Orientation of the parish nurse
• Basic preparation of the parish nurse
• Installation/dedication of the parish nurse
• Ongoing working relationship between the congregation and institution.
• Suggested budget