What happens when someone in your community needs help that doesn’t fit neatly into either “healthcare” or “pastoral care”?
For one older gentleman living alone, the answer came through his local church’s Parish Nurse.
He was already known to the Parish Nursing service when, after falling several times at home, he asked the nurse to visit. His hearing loss meant he didn’t use the telephone and he was waiting for his GP to respond to an email.
When the Parish Nurse arrived, it was clear he needed more immediate support. He had been unable to move around normally, had not eaten since the previous day and was struggling to manage his personal care.
She contacted his GP surgery and arranged for the home visiting team to assess him. While they were on their way, she helped him get up and dressed, made him some breakfast and stayed until further help arrived.
He was admitted to hospital overnight and later discharged home with walking frames, but his story didn’t end there.
Because the Parish Nurse already knew him and understood that remaining independent mattered deeply to him, she was able to continue alongside him. With his agreement, she connected him with local carers, accompanied him to appointments and helped him think through the options available when knee replacement surgery was ruled out. Together they explored physiotherapy and mobility support that could help him continue living independently.
This is one example of what Parish Nursing can bring to the life of a local church.
Parish Nurses are Registered Nurses who work from within Christian churches and communities. They do not replace GPs, District Nurses or other NHS services. Instead, they bring nursing knowledge together with the relationships, pastoral life and local knowledge already present within a church.
That can mean noticing when someone is becoming less well, helping them find the right service, advocating when navigating healthcare becomes difficult, supporting a family through a diagnosis, or simply being a familiar person who has time to listen.
The result is something churches are particularly well placed to offer: continuity. The person isn’t simply an appointment or a referral. They remain part of a community.
For churches exploring how they can become more deeply rooted in the health and wellbeing of their neighbourhoods, Parish Nursing offers one practical model.
Interested in what Parish Nursing could look like in your church?
PNMUK’s free, one-hour Explore Online sessions give church leaders and teams an introduction to Parish Nursing, real examples of how it works, and space to ask questions. The next sessions are on 3 September 2026 at 10am and 7pm.
Find out more and join an Explore Online session
You can also keep up with stories and news from Parish Nurses across the UK by signing up for the PNMUK newsletter on our website:
