By Sharon Strong
The Fern Lodge Christian Science Nursing Education Program is expanding! We have an increasing number of individuals coming to us who have trained many years ago and want skills or ethics updates. And since Annual Meeting of TMC in June, the number of young people applying for Christian Science nursing has increased.
We held a Level 1 course over the summer for a student from Principia, and she was such a natural nurse! It is gratifying to get to know young Christian Scientists who realize the vital role nursing plays in the practice of Christian Science.
We just began our third Level 2 course this year. This is a month-long course covering topics such as Cleansing & Covering or Bandaging, Sudden Needs, Home and Visiting Christian Science Nursing, Advanced Bed Care, Special Needs, Ministering to Mental Needs, and Advanced Foods. We held this course in mid-January and also in mid-May, and for each class, situations arose in nearby homes or at Fern Lodge, which allowed the class participants to gain experience in each of these areas.
Ten students have taken classes this year, which is double the number we had in 2013. Some have come from Colorado (one of whom is originally from Rwanda), two came from New Hampshire, one from Chile, one from California, and several from our staff who are progressing along in their Christian Science nursing practice.
One of Christian Science nurse from Illinois who took classes with us using Skype recently became Journal-listed. Another one attended several courses over Skype with our most recent class of three. He also came to Fern Lodge for two weeks of mentoring to bolster new skills and practice some that he doesn’t have the opportunity to at his current care home.
Fern Lodge continues to embrace international education. A group in the Dominican Republic is interested in training and we hope to be going there in 2015. And we continue to work with Christian Scientists in South America. Most of our course material has now been translated into Spanish.
In addition to teaching at Fern Lodge, we conduct reviews for other Christian Science nursing facilities. We have a course scheduled at the facility in Victoria, BC, Canada, and last year we conducted courses at other facilities on Ministering to Mental Needs.
With today’s technology, it is easy to keep in touch with more remote areas, to answer questions or even demonstrate a skill using Skype, Google, or other video programs. Some course information is also being transferred to PowerPoint presentations. This enables us to embed brief how-to videos, which is especially helpful with illustrating nursing tasks.
We are finding that as we listen for Mind’s direction for ways to reach and teach God’s children, new ideas continue to unfold, which enable us to share the good news of the healing ministry of Christian Science nursing with those earnestly desiring to serve. This ensures us that, as John 6:45 says, “They shall be all taught of God.”