Salt and Light
Do you ever get asked how the Bible applies to nursing? Here are sample application questions you can use to bring God's Word to light for nursing. These can be used in any Bible study, privately or with others. Find more great questions at http://ncf-jcn.org/student/main.php under Applying the Bible to Nursing: Learn it and Live it!
* What attributes do you appreciate about God in this passage of Scripture? Which of these attributes do you want to reflect in your nursing practice?
* Is there a promise to claim that encourages you in your nursing role?
* What do you learn about yourself as a person created in the image of God? How does this impact the way you care for others?
* What does this text say to you about how Christian nurses are to act, speak, and work?
Member Benefits
* Did you know? NCF membership costs significantly less than many other professional nursing organizations. For only $65 for nurses, $50 for retirees, and full-time students $35 (print and online JCN access) or $25 (online JCN access only) you can join, support NCF ministry, and receive JCN and more! Join today at http://www.ncf-jcn.org.
* NCF members receive a 30% discount on all JCN CE (in print and online) and 25% discount on all CE online at Lippincott's http://NursingCenter.com (over 1,200 CE opportunities available!). Learn how to obtain member discounts at http://www.ncf-jcn.org/jcn/lwwce.php.
* JCN Online-Access JCN content, archives, topical collections, supplemental digital content, online-only and published-ahead-of-print articles, JCN's blog "In the Light," and more, at http://journalofchristiannursing.com. Members who need help with their JCN online account can contact LWW Member Services at (866) 489-0443 or [email protected] with your name and NCF membership number.
Intersections
Connecting Faith and Nursing
Every fall, leaders in nursing education gather in Washington, DC, for the semiannual meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). The Christian Deans' Fellowship (CDF) has been an opportunity for mutual encouragement through shared worship of Jesus for these leaders. Although not an official organization, CDF distributes meeting invitations to AACN attendees. Over the years the focus remains loving Jesus and seeking his guidance for nursing education. Sandra Jamison, PhD, RN, the NCF Volunteer for Faculty and Graduate Student Ministries and a former dean, shares how faith and education intersect at CDF meetings:
How well I remember the joy of attending the CDF gathering. I arrived early for the 7:45am time of worship, prayer, and fellowship. The chairs we asked for were already full with standing room only. The hotel staff labored to wedge more chairs into the room as eager participants kept coming. The room filled with 40 deans and associates, half of them from secular institutions where they faithfully bear witness to Jesus in their schools of nursing. Nearly half were first-time attenders to the Christian Deans' Fellowship.
The 90 minutes of prayer and of singing are indelibly printed on my memory. These academic leaders did not ask prayer for themselves; they specifically requested prayer for faculty with illnesses and students with serious concerns. After each request was lifted in prayer, all affirmed their confidence in one Lord by singing Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.
What joy filled my heart as I reflected on the hope represented by these forty men and women who are following Jesus in their role as leaders in nursing education.
Pray for Christian nurse leaders in their challenging roles in education that God will encourage and use them to connect faith and nursing.
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Discover God @ Work, NCF Blog, facebook, resources, and more at http://www.ncf-jcn.org
Spotlight On[horizontal ellipsis]
Grace Tazelaar, MS, RN, Nurses Christian Fellowship Missions Director
Being around Grace Tazelaar makes you think about missions (and think differently). Grace is passionate about the health of the world, especially after serving as a missionary in Uganda, East Africa. She went in 1985 with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee to serve as a health consultant to the Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau to develop their Primary Health Care Department. While there, Grace developed a curriculum for Community Health Workers (CHWs), trainers, and facilitators; helped develop a baccalaureate nursing program at Makerere University, and started a community-based healthcare program for the Madi/West Diocese of the Church of Uganda.
Grace was in Africa at the beginning of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It changed her to watch people suffer and die-people with no access to healthcare resources who were ignored by the world. It made her a believer in community health promotion; in disease prevention that is more effective than trying to find costly if not impossible cures. God showed Grace his heart for those who are poor, forgotten, and underserved in healthcare.
Since Uganda, Grace has worked to change healthcare missions. She's promoted a new paradigm of mutual learning, sharing of ideas and resources, and working together rather than "doing for." Tazelaar says, "We put all of our resources into curative medicine and not enough into health promotion. We need to help people take responsibility for their health not just try to cure them." Grace has been a champion for best practices to offer healthcare in developing countries at the same high standards followed in the Western world. She has advocated for healthcare that demonstrates Christ's righteousness and justice.
Grace became Missions Director of NCF in the spring of 1999. In the last 14 years she's led NCF in encouraging nurses to use their professional knowledge and skills as a ministry, both in their community and overseas. She's helped create networks between NCF and other ministries that serve the poor and underserved worldwide. She has reviewed and written missions articles in JCN, helping the journal offer cutting-edge missions content.
Despite vast changes and growth in missions over the last 10 years, Grace says, "It's a really exciting time in healthcare missions right now. I think God is calling his church-the universal global church, back to its involvement in healthcare. We are on the cusp of a huge change in missions because of globalization through the Internet. There is a huge opportunity to improve the health of the world that we are just now realizing." The Internet reminds Grace of the ancient Roman roads that connected the world-and allowed for the spread of the Gospel. She believes the Internet can be used to spread the Gospel and healthcare in ways we never dreamed possible. "We can do education and training long distance anywhere in the world. We can send x-rays by email. We can get consultations, make diagnoses long distance. We can do telemedicine, maybe even use robotics for surgeries! We just need to put all the pieces of the puzzle together."
Grace says a big part of her job is casting the vision for what can be, encouraging people to think outside the box about how God might use them. If you are interested in learning more about missions, visit http://ncf-jcn.org/missions/main.php. Find great articles by Grace about healthcare missions at http://journalofchristiannursing.com under "Collections."
On Campus
Nurses Christian Fellowship has a vision for nursing students! "God has you on your campus for so much more than just your nursing education," says Renee Lick, NCF Student Ministries Director. In the video, A Vision for Nursing Students, like the four men who brought their friend to Jesus in Mark 2, Renee outlines how students can bring their friends and patients to Jesus:
* PRAY: Ask God to open your eyes as you pray for your campus. Pray faithfully for your friends who don't yet know God.
* INVITE: Be bold and invite other nursing students to a Bible study or an NCF outreach event. Share your life with others.
* BE EQUIPPED: Be prepared to enter into spiritual conversations with your patients and your friends.
See the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx6_yzpfB8g. Support NCF ministry to over 100 campuses in the United States through prayer and financial gifts. Give at https://donate.intervarsity.org/ to "NCF Student Ministry." Find a chapter and campus resources at http://www.ncf-jcn.org/student/main.php