Parish nurses serve as a vital link between the faith and health care communities. Practiced within a faith community, parish nursing, or Faith Community Nursing (FCN) as recognized by American Nurses Association (ANA), serve congregations large and small in a variety of ways.
Holy Cross – Health Ministries
Home Visits (Communion): For those who are sick or homebound and unable to attend Sunday Mass, we offer the opportunity of visits to their home to bring Communion. The parish nurse is also available for health consultations and offering resources or referrals as needed for health care or any special needs including end of life issues and bereavement follow-up visits. Please contact the parish office or speak with Fr. Carlton or Jan Gaddis, Parish Nurse. History of Health Ministries at Holy Cross – started in 1997 as a partnership with Franiscan St. Francis Health, which provide funding and salary for part-time Parish Nurse (R.N.) on staff.
St. Francis Hospitals
Health Ministries provides whole person health to include mind, body and spirit:
- Integrates faith and health
- Builds relationships for healing
- Sees connections between health and wellness/well-being and spirituality
- Unites community resources with person(s) in need whether it is health related, medical, mental, social, professional or spiritual
- Helps people lap into their inner healing/relationship with their body/God
- Works with people’s lifelong journey, including end of life issues, grief and bereavement issues, help plan funerals
- Hosts signature events – health fair each year
- Provides blood pressure checks monthly, flu shots seasonally, heart/vascular screenings
- Visits in the hospitals, homes, church, office
- Makes communion calls
- Offers one-on-one health counseling for referrals/resources, group setting for health education/activities
The parish nurse serves as a community health liaison for individuals and groups with health agencies i.e. St. Francis, Marion County Health Department, Visiting Nurse Services, Julian Center, Asthma Alliance, Purdue Extension – Nutrition department, and many more.
More information:
National Health Ministries Association – www.hmassoc.org
International Parish Nurse Resource Center – www.parishnurses.org
Local Indiana Center for Parish Nurse – www.indianaparishnurses.org
Archindy/Family Ministries/Health Ministries – www.arch.indy.org/healthministries
Parish Nurse Jan Erlenbaugh Gaddis coordinates services to parishioners and the neighborhood community to provide holistic care for mind, body, and spirit.
Among the services available here at Holy Cross are:
- Parishioners may contact Jan Gaddis for health information, referrals, resources, and consultations.
- On the first Sunday of each month after Mass, Jan is available for blood pressure checks.
- We maintain a prayer line to notify parishioners of members who request prayers for serious illness or other grave need.
- Opportunities for individuals or communal reception of the sacramental of the Anointing for the Sick are arranged as needed.
- Our bereavement ministry assists at funerals and contact with the bereaved is also maintained throughout the year.
- Special remembrance of those from the parish who have died in the past year is made on “All Souls’ Day”, November 2.
- Communion calls are made to the ill and homebound.
- Pastoral visits, as well as hospital or home visits are available upon request.
- Periodic classes and presentations are available on a variety of topics. Recent offerings have included a weight management and wellness series, information on mental health, Medicare assistance, yoga classes, Advance Directives and more.
- We collaborate with other health agencies to increase community awareness and connections to assist people in making choices to lead healthier lives.
- Holy Cross serves as a host site for a winter flu shot clinic provided by Visiting Nurse Services.
- An annual Health Fair provides a wide variety of information and screenings to participants.
- We thank Franciscan St. Francis Health for providing the funding to have a parish nurse and Health Ministries at Holy Cross.
Contact Parish Nurse Jan Erlenbaugh Gaddis for more information. jerlenbaugh@holycrossindy.org or (317) 637-2620 x406.
“Ministry is not simply what happens when pastors preach and serve the sacraments. Ministry is the work of the whole body of Christ as it seeks to enact the call of the gospel to preach, teach and heal.” ~ Church Health Reader, Spring 2012
UPCOMING HEALTH MINISTRY EVENTS
(Life Line Screening Focus – Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm)
Are you, or have you ever been, a smoker? Are you a male over 55? Do you have any family members with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms? Life Line Screening’s preventive health event will be scanning for risk of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Life Line Screening uses hospital quality ultrasound technology to detect an enlargement or weak area in the main blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Warning signs of AAA often go unidentified and if ruptured, abdominal aortic aneurysms are 80-95% fatal. The screening will be held on October 25th at Holy Cross Catholic Church. The AAA screening is included in the Wellness + afib package (includes 5 tests) for our members at a $10 discount for $139. In addition a matching $10 donation will be made to our church for anyone that signs up using the special registration form, and/or calls the Helping Hand phone number and attends the screening. Please allow 60-90 minutes to complete total screenings. You must pre-register. See the HELPING HAND Registration Forms in the back of the church for prices and how to sign up, or contact Life Line Screening Rep., Brenda Clark at 317-409-8685 or brenda.clark@LLSA.com. These Screenings are Effective and are Saving Lives!!
It has come to the attention of the Holy Cross St. Vincent de Paul conference that there is an urgent need for medicine bottles by the medical staff for their patients in Haiti. We would like to request that instead of discarding your empty medicine bottles (rx and OTC), you bring them to church and give them to our parish nurse, Jan, or Vicki Williams. Please remove labels with your name, etc. before bringing them. Thank you so much.
Seasons of Hope, a bereavement support group program, will be offered at two parishes on Mondays, one session will be in the afternoon and the other session will be in the evening, for six consecutive weeks. Any parishioner who is mourning the loss of a loved one is encouraged to attend. Please join us on the following Mondays: October 22 and 29 and November 5, 12, 19, & 26 from 2-4pm at Little Flower or from 7-9pm at Holy Spirit. Please choose either the afternoon or evening session, they are not interchangeable. To gain the full benefit of the group process, participants commit to attend each week. To register and assure that a participant booklet is available for you or for more information contact Peggy Clegg at 357-8352 or pclegg@littleflowerparish.org or Marilyn Hess at 777-5377 or mbhess43@gmail.com.
