Salt & Light
Every year, celebration of National Nurses Week (May 6-12) provides natural opportunities for Christian nurses to be a source of inspiration and encouragement for their nurse peers and coworkers.
Whether you're sponsoring an event, hosting a Bible discussion, or meeting to pray, consider how God wants to express his love and grace to those around you.
Nurses Christian Fellowship has collected ideas and put together a brief Bible discussion on this year's theme. Many nurse groups offer a "Blessing of the Hands" during Nurses Week. This is also a wonderful way to send off graduating nursing students.
See all the NCF resources for Nurses Week at http://www.ncf-jcn.org. Be God's salt and light in nursing!
Member Benefits
NEW! In response to member requests, NCF has upgraded and enhanced the membership registration system. Now it is much easier for you as a member to renew, make payments, and manage your personal information.
As a member of Nurses Christian Fellowship, you will have a more secure login, a simpler renewal process, and an easier payment system for annual dues. Your expiration date and membership number are easily accessible for your convenience.
When you visit the site for the first time, you will create a new login with a username and password. You will also complete a Personal Profile application before renewing. With a secure login, you can edit your personal information at any time. When you renew next year, you will only need to review your profile information and update as needed.
Another major improvement is that you can now pay online through PayPal with your credit card or PayPal account. This is a secure and simple way to renew your membership. Get a head start on your next renewal by logging in and completing your member profile now.
Check out all the benefits and resources to make the most of your NCF membership. Go to http://ncf-jcn.org/members-only.
Members, thank you for making a difference by following Christ in nursing!
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 70th Anniversary of NCF!
Nurses Christian Fellowship's roots go back to the 1930s, when Christian nurses began meeting for prayer, Bible study, and outreach. By 1948, a national movement formed and aligned with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a nondenominational campus ministry.
Since then, InterVarsity and NCF have partnered on U.S. campuses to see God transform more than a million students and faculty. Nursing students develop spiritual roots through NCF to anchor them for a lifetime.
NCF is unique in InterVarsity because we continue to equip and encourage nurses after graduation through local groups, JCN, continuing education, and professional membership.
Megan was a nursing student whose life was transformed. "InterVarsity was the biggest part of my college career. I met dear friends, grew into a leader (which I never thought I was!), and developed a relationship with God that has changed my life."
Every year, nearly 40,000 students and faculty are involved in over 1,000 chapters. These core traits imbed InterVarsity and NCF groups:
1. A DEEP LOVE FOR SCRIPTURE-Through NCF, nursing students learn to integrate faith and practice with contextualized Bible studies.
2. A CULTURE OF PLANTING-NCF student ministry grew 17% last year. Last fall, 48 nursing students committed their lives to Jesus!
3. A COMMITMENT TO MULTIETHNICITY-More than half of InterVarsity students identify as non-White (54%), creating diverse campus communities for all students.
4. DEVELOPING LONG-TERM DISCIPLES OF JESUS-Nursing students become grounded in Christ and learn discipleship practices that prepare them to meet the intense demands of practice.
We rejoice that God changes lives through NCF ministry! We look back on the past with gratitude. We look to the future with great expectancy. For today, we strive to be faithful to Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever!
Learn how you can be a part of NCF ministry athttp://www.ncf-jcn.org/about-ncf/get-involved.
From the NCF Director
This summer, nurses, students, and nurse educators can gather at two special conferences in the Midwest and on the West Coast. NCF USA is a partner and cosponsor for:
* 6th Biennial Innovations in Faith-Based Nursing, Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU), Marion, Indiana, June 18-21, 2018;
* Infusing Hope in Nursing: A Christian Perspective, Azusa Pacific University (APU), Azusa, California, July 19-22, 2018.
Something incredible happens when Christian nurses come together. Nurses relate to each other as we relate to few others. We talk with understanding about the challenges of nursing, the rigors of nursing education. We apply the Bible to nursing; we pray together and for each other; we network. God meets us when we come together in his name.
At the IWU Innovations conference, nurses (primarily nurse educators) will share their research, quality improvement projects, cultural knowledge, and innovative experiences. Plenary sessions will address: ethical issues challenging Christians in healthcare; thriving in your workplace; and national policy issues impacting nursing. A preconference, the Saline Process, helps healthcare workers learn about faith sharing.
Infusing Hope is the quadrennial regional conference for the NCF International Caribbean and North American Region (Canada, Haiti, U.S.). Plenary sessions will focus on how Jesus infuses hope into nursing education, practice, and in crisis. Tracks will offer NCFI's International Institute of Christian Nursing curriculum: The Art and Science of Spiritual Care, and Biblical Leadership. Other tracks for educators, on human trafficking, and a Saline Taster (an abbreviated Saline Process course) will occur. There will be individual, small group, and plenary session Bible study, and daily prayer ministry.
Visit ncf-jcn.org/resources/conferences-and-events for links to both conferences and where to email questions. Ask God where he wants to speak to you. I'll be at both conferences and hope to see you!-Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner, PhD, RN, NCF National Director and Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Christian Nursing
On Campus
Every spring, thousands of students graduate from nursing school and join the profession. Most of them will interact with more than 500 patients a year-many thousands in their lifetime-to impact the lives of these patients and selflessly provide needed care.
But these graduates, whether intentionally or not, also impact their workplaces. What they say, how they act, whom they speak with-all contribute to the atmosphere in their hospitals and clinics.
I love the parable from Matthew 13:33, where Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven "like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough." It reminds us that we have a responsibility to our work environments. We-those who follow Jesus-are like the yeast. Our workplaces are like the dough. When we get into the dough, our hope and faith in Christ somehow impact everything around us, and that is how God's kingdom expands.
That's the vision of NCF Student Ministries. We want to help nursing students learn to be yeast in the nursing profession. When NCF students gather to study Paul's exhortation in Philippians 2:15 to shine like stars "in a warped and crooked generation," they are preparing themselves to rise above the gossip and hurtful comments in some hospital settings. When NCF students learn best practices of providing spiritual care, they are looking ahead to how they can meet their future patients' spiritual needs. And when NCF students pray with one another about the stresses of nursing school, they are establishing a pattern of praying for and with their colleagues on difficult days.
Join me in congratulating the Nursing Class of 2018! As our NCF graduates step into their nursing vocation, will you pray that they will intentionally be yeast, and impact their workplace with the love and light of Jesus Christ?
-Timothy Lin, MA NCF Student Ministries Director and Senior Area Director in Kansas with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA