Friends and fellow faith community nurses,
The outrage over racial injustices and systemic inequities comes in addition to the fears and uncertainties of COVID-19’s disparate impact experienced in our communities. The ripple effect of these experiences has taken African American lives, led to violence and divisive discord around the world. Last week the ripple effect came to my city, my community, and found its way to my street. Such may not have come to your front door as visible and alarming as I experienced, but underlying racial bias is there on your street, in your community, and your city.
As respected, trusted members of your community, you are poised to champion the values of peace, listening, and encouraging others to do the same. I challenge you to stretch your comfort level. Allow yourself to experience being uncomfortable for a time by placing “listening” at the heart of your nursing care and see through the eyes of another’s lived experience of injustice, fear, and hope. Listening in this way is not always comfortable or easy, but it is an important step toward understanding and acting.
We applaud faith community nurses and parish nurses who are taking the unprecedented step of standing among community contentions to support prayer, peace and listening. The intentional care of the spirit is needed now more than ever!
May God provide you with insight to react as a leader, to preserve hope, to bring peace, and to treat humankind with patience, kindness and dignity.
As Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us: “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”
Thanks again,
Katora P. Campbell, DrPH, MSN, RN-BC
Executive Director
A ministry of the Church Health
The Westberg Institute is the international body for faith community nursing and owns the curriculum used in the Foundation of Faith Community Nursing courses.
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