We are delighted to have Parish Nursing Assistants (PNAs) working within our North Blackwater Parish Nursing Service, to support the Parish Nurse in caring for and supporting people living and working in our community. Each PNA has been recruited through the Church of England ‘safer recruitment’ practices. This includes gaining full DBS clearance.

Parish Nursing Assistants work under the direct or indirect supervision of the Parish Nurse, who is a qualified nurse registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), and both trained and certificated by Parish Nursing Ministries UK (PNMUK). Parish Nursing Assistants will only undertake those duties included within their role description. They receive a full induction into their role, and are provided with ongoing training, support and supervision by the Parish Nurse and PNMUK. Each Parish Nursing Assistant holds a wide range of knowledge, skills, and life experience to enable them to actively listen to people, offer emotional support and empathy, provide health information, literature, and to offer art and craft activities, all supported by the Parish Nurse.

Parish Nurses and Parish Nursing Assistants respect and adhere to a duty of confidentiality to those they are supporting, and will not discuss anything confidential with anyone except the Parish Nurse. If anyone receiving support from the North Blackwater Parish Nursing Service discloses personal information relating to their own or to someone else’s health or well-being, the PNA will discuss this with the Parish Nurse. Gaining a person’s consent to share information relating to a their health, for example where a referral is indicated, is also very important.