Parish Nurse ~ Debbie Wein
Joined First Congregational Church:
- December 24, 1989
Prior Experience:
- Served on Stewardship Committee, Youth Board, Chancel Guild, Board of Deacons and as a founding member of the Prayer Group.
- Accepted Parish Nurse position in January, 2001.
Education:
- Wheaton College, Norton, MA, 1967 to 1969 - undergraduate liberal arts.
- Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing, New York, NY - 1969 to 1971 - awarded Bachelor of Science in Nursing, cum laude, 1971.
- Inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, national honor society for nursing, 1971.
Personal Background:
- Born - White Plains, NY; baptized and confirmed in Ridgeview Congregational Church, White Plains, NY.
- Married to Chuck Wein, born in Philadelphia, PA; Chuck received his Master's degree in Environmental Science from the University of New Haven.
- We have three children, all born in New Hampshire - Matthew (1979), Andrew (1980) and Sandy (1973) who was married to Lee Olcott in 1999, currently living and working in the Philadelphia area
- Our family moved to Ridgefield in 1984.
Nursing Background:
My nursing experience reflects a 30-year career which has brought me great satisfaction and joy through participation in a broad variety of different clinical settings. Initially, I worked on general medical-surgical units, with an alcohol detoxification program and in a small intensive care/coronary care unit. I have also worked in the field of home health care. In New Hampshire, I was a Visiting Nurse and here in Ridgefield, I have been part of the Ridgefield VNA's Nurse Registry doing Private Duty nursing.
As our family came along, I was fortunate to be able to work part-time, teaching prepared childbirth classes, followed by working as a school nurse in Madison, Connecticut and as a camp nurse at a summer camp for children with special health needs. Subsequent part-time positions included working in a women's health clinic and most recently in a nursing home.
Parish nursing draws upon all of these experiences in a unique way. It is the culmination of a broad nursing career, combining and utilizing all of the experience gathered in these various fields.
Statement of Purpose:
As Parish Nurse, my goal is to serve and strengthen individuals and families to face the ever increasing challenges involved in getting and staying healthy. A state of well-being comes from spiritual and emotional wholeness and can be found even in the context of physical illness and economic need.
The full, abundant life described by the Lord in John 10:10 is available to all of us. In sharing God's grace with one another, we help each other to find God's comfort and strength in difficult times.
Parish nursing seeks to integrate faith and health; reminding us that God cares very much about what each person is experiencing. As members of this faith community, we look together for resources and ways to allow God to work for good in our lives.
About Parish Nursing:
In 1984, a Lutheran Minister, Reverend Granger Westberg, outlined the contemporary concept of Parish Nursing in Park Ridge, Illinois. Historically, Parish Nursing is rooted in the early work of deacons and deaconesses, monks and nuns, traditional healers and the nursing profession itself.
Parish nursing services are designed to build on and strengthen capacities of individuals, families and congregations to understand and care for one another in light of our relationship to God, our faith traditions, ourselves and our broader community. Parish nursing holds that all persons are sacred and must be treated with respect and dignity, and to this end, the Parish Nurse assists and empowers individuals to become more active partners in the management of their personal health resources.
The Parish Nurse understands health to be a dynamic process which embodies the spiritual, psychological, physical and social dimensions of the person. Spiritual health is central to well-being and influences a person's entire being. Therefore, a sense of well-being and illness may occur simultaneously. Healing may exist in the absence of cure.
As described by former Senior Minister, Dale Rosenberger, Parish Nurses serve in ways almost as varied as Parish Ministers, attending to people in need or crisis in practical and detailed ways where clergy are not able to stay long. Parish Nursing makes possible the church's embrace of those most in need of its healing touch in a way that gives the Gospel real content and immediacy.
In 1998, Parish Nursing came to First Congregational Church. The program was signed into being through an agreement between Danbury Hospital and the church pastors and leaders. Loretta McMaster was the first Parish Nurse. She started the ministry and held the position until January, 2001. The collaborative relationship between the local Parish Nurses and Danbury Hospital, Department of Pastoral Care, is a source of professional support for the Parish Nurses.
At First Congregational Church, the Parish Nurse works with and is supported by the Congregational Care Committee. Everyone in the congregation is invited to attend the quarterly meetings, held on the last Tuesdays of February, May, August and November.