Parish Nurse
 
What is a Parish Nurse?
 
A Parish Nurse is a nurse registered by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), working under its Code of Conduct. Confidentiality is within the Code: anything said to the Parish Nurse is kept private unless you are being harmed or are harming someone else, or are at risk of doing so.
 
A Parish Nurse will have gained many years of experience working within the National Health Service, the community and/or private practice. Our Parish Nurse is not employed by the National Health Service but by the parish of Stratford-upon- Avon covering The Collegiate Church of the Holy & Undivided Trinity, with All Saints’ Luddington and St. Helen’s Clifford Chambers.
 
What does the Parish Nurse do?
 
Parish nurses promote health through health education, advice and spiritual care to people of all faiths or none. Parish Nursing seeks to provide whole-person health care through a local community. Based on Christ's teaching and ministry, a Parish Nurse provides support for the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of individuals.
 
A Parish Nurse can:
 

• Offer advice for any of your health concerns, and to support you in seeking the most appropriate care for your needs.
   

• Help you navigate through the often-complex health and social care system.
   

• Provide advocacy and moral support
   

• Provide general health advice and education
   

• ‘Signpost’ people to other support or medical services
   

• Clarify medical procedures or issues
   

• Simply listen.
   

• Provide specialist health promotion classes
   

• Offer spiritual support.
   

• If prescriptions, dressings, injections, or help with personal care are needed, they are provided by the health and social care services. Still, the parish nurse can be the link, ensuring that people use health services appropriately and understand their medications, care, and condition.
   

• They can help to prevent hospital admissions by following up people who have been discharged from care, are at risk, or have early signs of a health problem
   

• They train and coordinate volunteers to provide extra support during crises or to combat loneliness.
   

• They encourage exercise and healthy eating habits, so that preventable diseases are less likely to occur.
   

Who can receive this service?
 
We value everyone and are committed to being inclusive and seek to demonstrate God’s unconditional love. Our Parish Nursing service is available to anyone living or working within the parish of Stratford-upon-Avon. Our Parish Nurse is uniquely placed to be able to attend to the well-being of the ‘whole person’, irrespective of their faith, or no faith, their age, sex, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or ability.
 
Why is this service being provided?
 
Holy Trinity Church seeks to serve God’s loving purposes in all that we do, to serve one another and our communities, and to demonstrate that lives are changed through God’s love. Parish Nursing seeks to provide whole-person health care through a local community. Based on Christ's teaching and ministry, a Parish Nurse provides support for the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of individuals.
 
A key point about the Parish Nursing service is that it will complement, but not duplicate, services offered by existing NHS and Social Care agencies.
 
How to make a referral?
 
If you would like to access the Parish Nurse services for yourself or someone else, please complete our online contact request form or email nurse@stratford-upon-avon.org. Alternatively, you can phone the parish office on 01789 266316 and ask for the Parish Nurse to call you back. All requests will be assessed by the Parish Nurse, who will respond to you as soon as she can.
 
All documentation and personal information are held securely and accessed only by the Parish Nurse. It will not be shared unless consent has been given for this or there is a legal requirement to do so. Although your Parish Nurse is employed by the church, the details they hold about you will not appear in any database or mailing list the church maintains. Holy Trinity Church has a data privacy policy available on the parish website. If you are not the person referred to or their next of kin, please be aware that we cannot discuss the progress or outcome of this referral with you.