WELCOME TO FAITH COMMUNITY NURSES INTERNATIONAL
(FCNI)





The President's Passage
July 2023

Dear Faith Community Nurses,

It is hard to believe that 6 months of our calendar year have flown by. I’m so excited and impressed with the outstanding work of our various committees on behalf of our FCNI members:

The Education Committee under the leadership of Dr. Renee Kumpula, has created a calendar of CNE events showcasing several experts in the discipline for our collective learning, including:

  • Saturday October 28 Webinar 9 am to 11:30 am CT "Gray Matters: Understanding Substance Use Disorders in Older Adults" presented by Kay King, 2.25 ANCC contact hours (rescheduled from May)
  • Thursday November 16 Webinar at 6 pm CT, ANCC contact hours pending: “Spiritual Practice for FCNs and Self-care” presented by Rev. Dr. Esther Brown, 1.0 ANCC contact hour

  • Vimeo Recordings: The webinars that have been completed will be available soon on our Vimeo platform (so if you need CNEs, you can pay a low cost to get them, or if you registered but were unable to attend, let us know at contact@fcninternational.org and we’ll get you a code to access the recording)
  • “Food Insecurity in Healthcare Settings: Screening and Policy Recommendations” presented by Dr. Amanda Thurman, 1.0 ANCC contact hour
  • “Nurses Leading Non-Profit Organizations in the 21st Century” presented by Dr. Mary Lynne Knighten, 1.0 ANCC Contact hour

The Research, Practice, and Education Committees have come together to offer on Saturday September 23rd our first FCNI Research and Practice Conference “Exploring the Dimensions of Grief and BereavementWe are delighted to have Dr. Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner, National Director of Nurses Christian Fellowship and editor-in-chief of Journal of Christian Nurses as our Susan Mills Keynote Speaker! Click here for registration information: https://www.fcninternational.org/event-5374669

The Journal/Publication Committee: publisher of the International Journal of Faith Community Nursing has a few wonderful things in store. I am grateful to Dr. Liz Sturgeon and Western Kentucky University for the resources to publish the journal.

Following our June 12th “Aspiring Authors Writing Workshop”, presented by Marilyn D. Harris and Mary Lynne Knighten, attendees expressed strong interest in the need for time, space, and discipline to write. So, we will host “Aspiring Writers Artistic Space” over the summer whereby FCNI members can gather on Zoom, bring a writing project, and we will write together. Please block Saturday July 29th, August 26th, and September 9th at 11am-1pm (CT) to see if we can move the needle on those publications we’ve wanted to complete.

The Summer edition of the journal will be out in August, and in December we have a special themed issue facilitated by guest editor, Dr. P. Ann Solari-Twadell, focusing on the international impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how FCNs have addressed faith community needs.

Our Technology Committee chair, Yvette Dulohery, has been super busy updating our website to improve functionality (and aesthetics) for our members, and create better means of communication: a few best practices include a calendar of events that will ultimately include committee meetings as well as CNE events, more frequent notices of FCNI events through eBlasts and social media posts, and improved registration processes.

Our Leadership Succession Committee, under the direction of Dr. Linda Garner, is actively recruiting for board positions, with the ballot coming out in late September. Remember that we are an organization created by FCNs, led by FCNs, for FCNs. As always, we would like to see more of our members contribute, your talent, time, and treasure to our committees and projects, so this is a personal invitation from me to join any of our committees and run for the following board/committee chair positions. Please pray for FCNI and pray that our members may listen for the call to be leaders. 

A call for leadership positions on the Fall ballot:

  • VP/President-elect (1-yr term with 2-yr President term)
  • Secretary (2-yr term)
  • Chair, Finance Committee Chair (2-yr term)¨
  • Chair, Fundraising Committee (2-yr term)* ¨
  • Chair, Governance Committee (2-yr term)* ¨
  • Chair Research Committee (2-yr term)*
  • Chair Spiritual Resource Development Committee (2-yr term)* ¨
  • Chair, Technology Committee (2-yr term)* ¨
  • Leadership Succession (2 additional member positions)

*Incumbents can run for a second term
¨Current committees can use more members

There are a few last items, which I’d like to share. The quarterly President’s Round Table Forum will be held on August 16th at 6pm CT where we will discuss the work of the Spiritual Resource Development Committee. FCNI has experienced unanticipated key vacancies on the executive council of the Board, for which we are actively recruiting: Secretary, Treasurer, and VP/President-elect. I want to thank Mary Martin for volunteering to step into the VP role on an interim basis, in addition to chairing the Practice Committee. All of our board members are pitching in to take minutes for board meetings, for which I am grateful, and we are taking a shared governance approach to decision-making. Please know that the FCNI board—YOUR board—takes seriously our responsibility to you, our members. So we are continuously working to improve our services, even in the light of vacancies. This is my prayer for leaders, with two verses of sacred text (EVS Study Bible):

Dear Lord,

I pray for all leaders of Your people.

I pray that you would raise up people who you are calling to lead.

I pray they will lead with humility and commitment, not lead selfishly, for personal ambition, or with vain conceit.

I pray that You help leaders to realize that leading is really an opportunity to serve and they will trust that you will support and provide for their leadership and service.

I pray that these leaders would seek to understand the needs of those they serve, before they seek to be understood.

So, Father, please raise up servant leaders in Your name.

Make them selfless vessels of You, in Your image. Use their hands and hearts to carry out Your will and plan.

Amen.

John 13:13-17 “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” 

Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others”. 

In service,

Mary Lynne

#byFCNsforFCNs     #byfaithcommunitynursesforfaithcommunitynurses     #calledtoserve






FCNI Network News -- News You Can Use!








Upcoming Events

FCNI Annual Conference

Aspiring Authors

FCNI's
Education Committee Presents

Exploring Dimensions of Grief and Bereavement:

Aspiring Authors Artistic Space


Gray Matters: Understanding Substance Use Disorders
in Older Adults


The FCNI Education Committee is pleased to announce Kay King, President of the Minnesota National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) will be presenting Gray Matters: Understanding Substance Use Disorders in Older Adults as a Saturday Morning Symposium on October 28th from 9am to 12 noon Central Time (CT).

The incidence of substance use disorders is increasing with almost 1 million adults 65 and older living with a substance use disorder (SUD). The National Institute on Drug Abuse  (Substance Use in Older Adults DrugFacts | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (nih.gov) recognizes older adults are more vulnerable to the substances used, with alcohol, prescription drugs, and illicit drugs heading the list. Multiple risk factors have been identified, such as chronic pain, loss of loved ones, poor health, and physical disabilities. Join us to determine how you can reduce risks, identify problems, and promote care to reduce these issues.

Please join us!

Date: Saturday, October 28th

Time: 9am to 12:00 noon CT

Registration: 
$40 for members/$60 for nonmembers

CNE: 2.25 ANCC contact hours

Registration is now open and you can click on this link: https://www.fcninternational.org/event-5268703  

Or you will find the link below at the Upcoming FCNI Events or on our Calendar!

Hope to see you there!

(A printable flyer is available for posting at: Gray Matters SUD Flyer 10-28-2023.pdf


The COVID Pandemic continues to leave in its wake loss, grief, and fears along with untold implications for the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of many people. This process of bereavement is central to the work of faith community nurses.

Please join us for the Annual FCNI Conference on Saturday, September 23rd, 2023 virtually on Zoom. This is a topic that has touched each of our lives and the work that we do in caring for others. 

We are excited to announce that Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner, PhD, MSN, National Director, Nurses Christian Fellowship USA, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Christian Nursing will be giving the Susan Mills Keynote presentation entitled "Ambiguous Loss: Unresolved Closure, Irresolvable Grief".

Participants will have a choice of either of two presentations, Pinwheel Model of Bereavement with Dr. Ann Solari-Twadell, PhD or Ministry of Accompaniment-A Compassionate Journey of Community with Paula Staab Polk, RN, BS. 

Completing the conference is an interfaith panel discussing "Grief and Loss Among Diverse Faith Traditions" featuring Nancy Romanchek, MPH (Muslim Tradition), Sharon Goldfarb, DNP (Jewish Tradition), and Edgar Montesa, DBA, RN (Catholic Filipino Tradition).

We are looking forward to a dynamic day and we hope you can join us!

The registration link is: https://www.fcninternational.org/event-5374669

(A printable flyer is available for posting at: Annual Conference 2023 Poster.docx


We will be setting aside sacred space in order to write. This is not a lecture or a presentation. It is not a continuing nursing education (CNE) event. The intent is to create creative artistic space, set aside the time, and establish the discipline to write. Maybe you have a devotional you would like to publish? Perhaps there is a scholarly manuscript that has been gathering dust on your desk? Could it be a book you're writing that needs some attention? Do you have a prayer you would like to write for the FCNI online prayer book? Any and all of these are perfect writing projects to bring!

We will meet on Zoom for two hours on three Saturdays this summer to write together. The remaining dates are August 26th and September 9th from 11am to 1pm CT.  There will be an evaluation after the third session to see if we should continue and if the time was good.

An FCNI Board Member will host the space. There is no cost, but you will need to register. Please note: There are 3 sessions, each with an individual Zoom link, so please register for one or all of the sessions. Here is the next link for you:  https://www.fcninternational.org/event-5357297

Please have:

  • A writing project—have computer open, a pad of paper and pen/pencil and be prepared to write
  • Lunch or a snack, a cup of coffee or tea, so you don’t need to get up during the session
  • Prepared by getting errands out of the way in the morning, or after you are done writing

We will start out in prayer and each briefly describe what we are working on for the session in the first 15 minutes. Then we’ll write for 1.5 hours. We’ll come back in the last 15 minutes to report our progress. We will have fun and accomplish a writing goal! See you there.

Mary Lynne
FCNI President

Free and open to members as well as non-members, however, registration is required. The Zoom link to attend will be sent to you following your registration.

Please Join Us!




Upcoming FCNI Events






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Not a Member Yet?
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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


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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