Visitors
Ever since I was a young child, I've always been intrigued with medicine; perhaps because my mother was also a registered nurse. When the opportunity presented itself to return to school, my husband did not hesitate to tell me what my choice of careers would be."you've always wanted to be a nurse," he said. From the moment I cared for my first patient I knew I had made the right decision. Thus began my journey through health and healing. Nursing was not merely a career, it was an extension of my life and personality. The ministry of serving through caring for the health needs of others has truly become a part of my everyday life.
I first heard of the concept of Parish Nursing on a edition of ABC World News Tonight. A Midwestern Lutheran pastor by the name of Granger Westberg pioneered work in the area of religion and medicine. While serving as a substitute chaplain of Augustana Lutheran Hospital , he began to see that a person's physical well-being was tied to his/her emotional and spiritual health. He felt that the key to preventive medicine lay in being sensitive to one's early cries for help. In response to the health care needs of the community; he opened several holistic health care centers. But, the clinics were too expensive to start and operate; and at the suggestion of a friend, he tried placing a nurse on the staff of a church instead and thus, the birth of parish nursing.
God has given me a burden concerning the "wholeness" of his people. Man has three parts, mind, body and spirit; and when one part is not healthy, an imbalance is created. I believe God wants his people to be whole and complete and balanced in Him. The Lord impressed upon me that what I did everyday in the hospital or office or in someone's home, needed to be done in His house. He told me to minister to the health needs of the people, in mind, body and spirit. After about five years of running, I decided to accept His call and this challenge, thus comes the birthing of Healing Virtue Ministries.
In His Service,
Sis. Rhonda D. Lane, RN.