What is a Congregational Nurse?
The registered nurse focuses her energy into the promotion of holistic health within the context of the values, beliefs and practices of a faith community. Improvement in a person's health will come about only as they understand the interplay between the body, mind, and spirit, and assume greater responsibility for their own health. The basic roles of the nurse include: health educator, health counselor, health advocate, liaison with community services, and coordinator of volunteer health activities. The job description is constantly evolving. The care provided is supportive rather than physical and based on the assessed needs of the member. Supportive simply means that the care provided does not invade the body. For example the nurse does not dispense medications, administer injections, provide wound care, etc.
Our congregational nurse is Liz Fite, RN. She graduated from Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in 1967 and except for five years when she was a "stay at home mom," she has been actively working as a nurse. Her expertise lies in the fields of medical-surgical nursing, and home health care. She has been on the advisory board for the "Health Occupations" specialty at Dauphin County Technical School for many years. The Lord led her out of her secular nursing job with Pinnacle Health Home Care in the fall of 2000 and into establishing the health ministry at CLA, her home church. She works part time and has a wonderful team of volunteer professionals who are so committed to caring for our members. She also directs the activities of our overseas MAPS Medical Clinics. Liz and her husband, Ron have been married since 1970 and have two sons Nathan and Benjamin.
