WELCOME TO FAITH COMMUNITY NURSES INTERNATIONAL
(FCNI)


President’s Reflections Spring 2025

Greetings FCNI Members and Friends,

We are now nearing the end of July, which makes me realize that summer is soon half way over! For many people, this is a time of relaxing, vacations and enjoying the sun and warm weather. As nurses, we know that illness and caring for people do not take a vacation during the summer. Respiratory illnesses such as COVID‑19 continue to be prevalent during the summer and can have serious negative health outcomes, especially for people who are 50 years and older. FCNI recognizes that it can be difficult for faith community nurses (FCNs) to find ongoing, accurate, up‑to‑date information about COVID‑19 that you can share with your congregations and communities. In our commitment to provide evidence‑based resources to FCNs, we recognize the importance of developing relationships with other health care organizations that also value the health and welfare of individuals and our communities. These relationships help us to share additional resources with you, which will ultimately lead to greater positive health outcomes for your congregants.

FCNI has recently become connected with McUlsky HealthForce (“MHF”), which is an American‑based company that helps organizations foster relationships with one another. Through McUlsky, FCNI has become a member of Champions for Vaccine Education, Equity and Progress (CVEEP). We are proud to be aligned with CVEEP as they strive to provide health education and promotion to our communities. CVEEP is committed to providing resources and raising awareness about the continued need for vaccination against infectious respiratory illnesses across the lifespan and the importance of treatments for those who are eligible. CVEEP also aims to engage diverse groups that have been most harmed by the pandemic. There are several nationally recognized health organizations that have also partnered with them.

CVEEP has initiated a summer educational campaign named the “Stay Updated Campaign,” which will run through August 31, 2025. This is based on the critical need for outreach to communities to increase understanding of the importance of receiving updated COVID‑19 vaccines. The CVEEP education campaign will focus on the fact that COVID‑19 and other respiratory illnesses can happen year‑round, and how important it is to get vaccinated—especially amongst vulnerable populations. Through this partnership, FCNI has committed to participate in this educational campaign, with a resulting grant given to FCNI at the conclusion of the campaign.

  • CVEEP has developed the campaign resources into a toolkit, with the suggested language, social media posts, graphics, and more for FCNI to use in outreach to their audiences. The toolkit is able to be shared by FCNI to FCNs and other nurses. The ready‑to‑use resources in the toolkit help nurses to communicate the importance of COVID‑19 and other vaccines and may be used and reproduced as needed without further permission (including in‑person training, faith community newsletters, bulletins, education bulletin boards, church websites and additional social media platforms and/or pulpit announcements). FCNI will also be promoting this campaign on our Facebook page and LinkedIn, disseminating the information with other faith community nursing networks, and offering a webinar for our members and contacts, which will include follow‑up. Please see the registration information for the webinar below this President’s Message.

At the conclusion of the campaign, FCNI will request that anyone who shared the information or used it in their congregations or faith communities to report back on key metrics such as where materials were shared, channels of outreach, engagement numbers on social media, or additional examples which may include the following:

  • Social media hits (Facebook and LinkedIn)
  • How many FCNs shared the information
  • Number of nurses and students who received the communications
  • Number of community members who were educated
  • Number of flyers printed/disseminated, posters posted, newsletters or other written materials
  • In‑person education attendance

These submitted metrics will provide vital information to CVEEP about the efficacy of the campaign. It will also enhance our profession as faith community nurses and help FCNI have a better understanding of the potential need for future vaccine education.

By sharing this important information with your congregations and communities, you can highlight how vaccination can be a simple and effective way to make sure summer stays healthy and filled with sunshine and connection.

Vaccine Toolkit Links: (Please use these links to access the Stay Updated Campaign resources:

Here are some exciting opportunities coming up: Save the Date

  • Check for the upcoming webinars through 2025
  • FCNI Annual Conference October 18, 2025 – see information below
Thank you for all you do in caring for the people in your communities! I look forward to the remainder of this year as FCNI continues to grow and flourish under the talents and expertise of all of its members.
Blessings,
Mary Martin
FCNI President

NEW BENEFIT FOR FCNI MEMBERS!

Discounted subscription to the Journal of Christian Nursing through Lippincott using code WMK028AA.

  • Go to journalofchristiannursing.com and click on “Subscribe to Journal.
  • Enter promo code WMK028AA in the shopping cart.
  • This code takes a 1 year print + online subscription from $90 to $72.

This benefit is graciously made possible by Dr. Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner, Editor-in-Chief of JCN

I Am FCNI!

This is a new feature intended to capture our FCNI members in action in our communities. Every month we will feature an FCNI member and their ministry and/or practice. Let us know if you’d like to be featured. We can accept videos, narrative, and/or pictures. Let's get to know each other better!


Our FCNI members, Dr. Edgar Montessa and Paula Staab Polk are content experts and are featured in a wonderful series called Grace in Grief: Hope After Loss, a series where people explore grief, bereavement, hope, and sustainment after losing loved ones. Produced by Family Theater Productions, this 7-part series can be used by individuals, faith communities, support groups, and the like to help others.

Learn more about Dr. Edgar Montessa and Paula Staab Polk by clicking here.

This is a new feature intended to capture our FCNI members in action in our communities. Every month we will feature an FCNI member and their ministry and/or practice. Let us know if you’d like to be featured. We can accept videos, narrative, and/or pictures. Let's get to know each other better!


I’m Amanda Thurman, DNP, FNP-BC and I serve the faith community and larger community in the San Diego, CA area who are suffering from food insecurity. Expanding on doctoral work I and my and my colleagues completed, we obtained grant funding to open a Fresh Marketplace near the free clinic where we work as nurse practitioners. I and my colleague, Kristin Kellog, DNP, FNP will be speaking at the FCNI Annual Virtual Conference on October 19th. You can hear more of our story then!

L - Kristin Kellog and R – Amanda Thurman at the Fresh Marketplace grand opening.

Meet our FCNI Leadership Team!

Upcoming Webinars & Registration

“Uncovering Patterns in Providing Spiritual Care: Lessons for FCNs"

Presented by: Renee Kumpula

Date: Thursday, June 5, 2025
Time: 6 pm to 7 pm Central Time on Zoom

Spiritual care is a necessary support when anyone is confronted with difficult diagnoses, chronic illness, or palliative and end-of-life care. This session will explore the factors and strategies that affect nurses’ effectiveness in providing spiritual care.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Identify 2 ways nurses develop their capacity to recognize spiritual needs.
  • Describe 2 strategies for providing holistic spiritual care.

“Supporting the Spiritual Development of Youth with Mental Health Challenges"

Presented by: Michelle Solomon

Date: Thursday, June 26, 2025
Time: 6 pm to 7 pm Central Time on Zoom

This session provides an overview of mental health and why it needs to be wholistic. Dr. Solomon will cover research findings on how youth diagnosed with bipolar disorder described their spirituality, how healthprofessionals can promote the wellbeing through spirituality integrated interventions, and how FCNscan promote their own spiritual wellbeing.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Identify how spirituality was understood by youth living with bipolar disorder, and the relationship between spirituality and bipolar disorder in the study population.
  • Describe the inner and outer work that FCNs can do to promote the spiritual wellbeing of others and themselves.

“Managing PTSD with
Caregivers”

Presented by: Merdijana Kovcevic

Date: Thursday, August 21, 2025
Time: 6 pm to 7 pm Central Time on Zoom

This session will explore the nature of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and its profound impact not only on individuals who experience it but also on the people who support them.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Discuss 2 impacts of PTSD on relationships.
  • Describe 2 practical tools to manage the impacts of PTSD on relationships.

FCNI Webinars for 2025 - Save the Date

Webinars (on Zoom)

  1. Topic: Providing Spiritual Care and Exploring Best Practices - Registration Coming Soon
    Presented By: Renee Kumpula
    Date & Time: Thu. Jun. 5 at 6 pm to 7 pm CT
  2. Topic: Managing PTSD with Caregivers
    Presented By: Merdijana Kovcevic
    Date & Time: Thu. Aug. 21 at 6 pm to 7 pm CT
  3. More Pending...



FCNI Annual Virtual Conference – 2025

Behavioral Health Across the Lifespan:
Implications for Faith Community Nursing Practice and Research

Saturday, October 18 from 10 am to 3:30 pm (CT)


Keynote: “Childhood Cancer: 50 years of Providing Trauma-Informed Care”

Kathleen Ruccione, PhD, RN, MPH, CPON, FAAN, FAPHON, is Professor and PhD Program Director in the School of Nursing at Azusa Pacific University, CA

Research Drives Practice: “Forging Communities of Belonging and Hope: An Approach to Support”

Beth Hlabse MS, LMHCA, is director and counselor with the Fiat MH program at the University of Notre Dame, IN.

Practice Drives Research: “Trauma-Informed Care: Strategies for FCNs”

Liz Coleman, DNP, FNP, RN is Assistant Professor at Minnesota State University and a FNP at a MH clinic.

Closing: “Hills, Hope, and Healing: Mental Health and Faith Community Nursing in Appalachia”

Angel Smothers, DNP, APRN, is Associate Dean and Professor at West Virginia University and a FCN in the community.

Practice drives research - Research drives practice

Feedback from last year’s Second Annual FCNI Conference in Fall 2024:

“The entire conference was excellent. All the speakers demonstrated expertise in their subjects and adhered to the time allotment.” and “Very interesting and informative...Looking forward to the next one.”

Upon completion of activities at this conference, learners will be able to:

  1. Identify 2 ways nurses can support mental health/behavioral health and well-being in faith communities.
  2. Describe 2 ways that nurses use mental health/behavioral resources and tools in faith communities.

Early Bird rate until August 31: Members $120; Non-members $170

Regular rate on September 1: Members $145; Non-members $195

If you join at $50 per year before paying conference registration, you will realize a return on investment immediately—
and be eligible for discounted CNE webinars for the next 15 months

Registration available later in 2025



Teen-Senior Connections: An Intergenerational Approach for Building Teen Resilience

Presented by: Marcia Davis, DNP, RN, CRNP-PC
Date: Thursday, May 2, 2024
Time: 6 pm to 7 pm Central Time on Zoom

Description: Faith Community Nurses face challenges in creating relationships among the generations. In the literature, resilience had been identified as a protective factor against the alarming rate of teen suicide in the US. This presentation describes a study to build teen resilience by using an intergenerational approach within a faith community. Outcomes reveal potential benefit for both young and old including other options for exploring intergenerational activities among a congregation.

Bio: Marcia Davis is a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in Primary Care. She received a Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Nursing degree from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), a Nurse Practitioner Certificate from California State University at Long Beach (CSULB), and her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree from the Azusa Pacific University. She has over 45 years of experience with children in inpatient and outpatient settings, private clinics, and school settings, and has been an Assistant Professor for over 12 years at Loma Linda University and at Azusa Pacific University.

Learning outcomes:

  • Identify 2 benefits of using an intergenerational approach for building teen resilience.
  • Identify 2 challenges and benefits of supporting intergenerational activities between youth and older adults.

Registration:

CNE 1.0 ANCC contact hours

$20 for Members; $40 for Nonmembers

   

Community of Support for Research and EBP:

A New Benefit for FCNI Members

The FCNI Research Committee is thrilled to announce that we have developed a Community of Support for Research and EBP. The goal is to provide mentoring, networking, support and consultation to FCNI members who are conducting research studies or EBP projects and disseminating scholarly work related to those research studies and EBP projects.

We are NOW accepting applications for the FCNI Community of Support for Research and EBP Program. If you are interested in becoming a mentee, visit our “Research Webpage” and submit your application



FCNI Events

FAITH COMMUNITY NURSING

Presenting Offer From: Widener University School of Nursing
Presenting By: Dr. Donna Callaghan, PhD, RN-BC, CNE, Professor
Starting Date: May 12, 2025
Closing Date: August 24, 2025
Time: 6 pm to 7 pm Central Time on Zoom

Widener University School of Nursing is offering the Westberg Institute for Faith Community Nursing’s Foundations of Faith Community Nursing Program for registered nurses who are interested in learning more about the specialty of faith community nursing and how to establish or enhance these ministries in their own faith communities (churches, mosques, synagogues).

The asynchronous 36.5 hour online program will open on May 12 and close August 24, 2025. Dr. Donna Callaghan, PhD, RN-BC, CNE, Professor of Nursing at Widener and certified Faith Community Nurse, will facilitate the program. The program consists of 15 modules that require from 1 – 4 hours to complete on a weekly basis. Registered nurses who complete the program will receive 36.5 PDC hours through Widener University School of Nursing, an ANCC-approved PDC provider.

PROGRAM DISCOUNTS!
1. The fee for the program is $400 plus purchase of the participant guide (approx. $50).
2. New and renewing members of Faith Community Nurses International (FCNI) can receive a code to take the program at a 50% discount ($200).
3.Please email Donna Callaghan at drdonnarn@comcast.net for registration information.



FCNI Opportunities

Read Our Online Journal

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Not a Member Yet?
Join Us!

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Join a Committee!

We are currently looking for additional members to join us on committees! 

  • Education Committee
  • Fundraising Committee
  • Spiritual Resource Committee
  • Technology Committee

Help shape the future of FCNI and learn new skills!

Email us at: contact@fcninternational.org


westberg Inst.

Incorporate the FCN Position Statements into Your Practice!

FCN Position Statements are offered by the Westberg Institute for Faith Community Nursing


Suggested Reading


The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity (2021)

The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity explores how nurses can work to reduce health disparities and promote equity, while keeping costs at bay, utilizing technology, and maintaining patient and family-focused care into 2030. This work builds on the foundation set out by The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011) report.

You can view the manuscript here: 

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25982/the-future-of-nursing-2020-2030-charting-a-path-to

Other Recommended Reading

A comprehensive report published this month by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine strengthens the case for primary care as the foundation of the U.S. health care system. It also makes policy recommendations that reinforce several of the AAFP’s long-standing advocacy positions.

Follow this link to the American Academy of Family Physicians' website:

https://www.aafp.org/news/practice-professional-issues/20210504nasemreport.html



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