Salt and Light
Nurses Christian Fellowship joins other nursing and healthcare organizations to recognize nurses during National Nurses Week, May 6-12, 2015. This special week provides natural opportunities for Christian nurses to celebrate nursing and help inspire their peers and coworkers.
Consider sponsoring an event, hosting a Bible discussion, or meeting to pray with others as ways to express God's love and grace to the people around you.
NCF provides free resources: a Bible discussion, a prayer guide, and ideas for events related to this year's theme, "Ethical Practice, Quality Care." Find more ideas on how to make the most of National Nurses Week at http://www.ncf-jcn.org.
Benefits of NCF Membership
When new NCF members are asked why they joined Nurses Christian Fellowship, the most common response is, "I was looking for a professional nursing organization that matches my Christian values."
We value compassionate care, integrity of the whole person, spiritual development, and integrating nursing into Christian faith.
If you're a JCN subscriber, consider becoming an NCF member and joining a network of Christian nurses who follow Jesus in nursing. Your JCN subscription is included as part of your membership package. Significant CE discounts are available for members on a wide range of clinical topics from over 40 nursing journals at Lippincott's http://NursingCenter.comCE Connection.
Find out more about NCF membership and join our mission to nurses, students, and educators at http://ncf-jcn.org/membership.
On Campus
Integrating Christian faith into nursing is a key discipleship principle for students in Nurses Christian Fellowship.
So it was natural for NCF staff Miriam Robinson to ask a student in the chapter, "How do you bring together your relationship with God and your life in nursing school?"
At first Kayla struggled to answer the question. "I don't think of it that way. God is my life," she said.
Miriam has seen how God transformed Kayla's life in significant ways over the past year, and she was overjoyed to hear how Kayla responded to her question. Kayla's spiritual passion showed through her joyous tears, as she explained her relationship with God as a junior in nursing school at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
"God isn't compartmentalized anymore," Kayla said. "My time is his. I used to view my schedule as mine, and I believed that I was in control. Now I see my time as God's, and I organize my life to reflect eternal values. I trust him to take care of me. Sometimes that even means taking a break from studying to care for my roommate who isn't a Christian."
It is because of God that Kayla can have this perspective. God's work in Kayla's life had brought heartache for a time, but it was the best thing that could ever happen to her!
"I'm praising God that Kayla said 'yes' to Jesus' call," Miriam said. "I believe Kayla will do great things for God's kingdom, both at UNCG as a student and on into her career as a nurse."
JCN Problems?
NCF members who need help with their JCN print subscription or online account should contact LWW Member Services at 866-489-0443 or mailto:[email protected].
Intersections
Nurses Christian Fellowship celebrates when students graduate from nursing school and from their NCF chapters! We thank God for these students who are officially beginning their journey as professional nurses.
NCF students graduate with more than a nursing degree. Through their NCF experiences, they are strengthened in their faith and equipped to give compassionate, holistic care, and to help others know that Jesus can meet their deepest spiritual needs.
NCF student ministry is centered on what we call the "Four for Forty" principle. Campus staff invest heavily in the spiritual and leadership development of nursing students for up to four years so they will be equipped for forty years (or more!) of serving God in nursing and in life.
Yet even with a firm faith foundation, navigating nursing school is hard, and graduation brings new challenges. Graduates may feel overwhelmed as they take the NCLEX exam, start a new job, and assume new patient-care responsibilities. They will need their faith more than ever as they take these first steps into nursing.
We invite you to join us in God's ongoing work to prepare the next generation of Christian nurses. Your prayers and financial gifts will help place staff on campus who will invest in students' spiritual development. Find out how you can help NCF nursing students for 4 years so they can serve Christ for the next 40+ years or more. Go to https://ncfnurses.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/help-ncf-move-forward/
Jane Hall, MS, RN, is the National Director of Nurses Christian Fellowship.
Spotlight On...
Robert Campbell, NCF staff
Robert Campbell is a big guy with an even bigger heart for God and for others-especially nurses and nursing students.
Robert has a broad background as a nurse, a teacher, and working in hospital administration. He also has a life-long passion of caring for others and equipping people to follow Jesus. So when he retired from nursing education, Robert blended nursing and ministry by joining NCF staff.
"I love seeing changes in people and helping them find their role in God's purposes," Robert said. As NCF staff, Robert equips and encourages nursing students, faculty, and nurses. He understands the unique culture of nursing school and the nursing profession.
"I love working with nursing students. They are generally at a different level of maturity from other students because of what they face in their nursing courses and clinical experiences," Robert said. "Unlike other undergrads, a nursing student might say, 'I cared for someone who died today.' That's unique."
Robert's spiritual journey is a testimony of God faithfully seeking him when he was a youth. He recalls, "I was churched, but I didn't know God."
In nursing school, an NCF faculty advisor prayed for him. Robert opened his heart to God and, from then on, he was a changed man.
"I was the lost sheep that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, set out to find and rescue," Robert recalls. "He used a nurse educator to show me the way home."
Since then, Robert has helped many others along a path toward God, who tenderly cares for us all.
Robert and his wife, Carole, live in Richmond, Virginia. They have been married 45 years and have four sons and nine grandchildren.