Students facing final exams are stressed this time of year, so no one knew how many nursing students would come to the last NCF meeting at Wichita State University. Surprisingly, 17 students and 9 teachers arrived for the final luncheon gathering.
The faculty advisors had created a lovely, inviting room with tablecloths, flowers and fancy salads for the luncheon. The theme was “Forget-Me-Not,” using the story of the paralyzed man in Mark 2 to encourage the students. The man had to ask for help and be willing to be helped. He had friends who didn’t forget him, and he was willing to do what Jesus said.
One of the faculty members brought a forget-me-not flower for each student to take home as a reminder that God longs for us to ask for his help. We need to be willing to accept God’s help as we cry out to him, “O Lord, forget me not!”
The lesson also was a reminder to engage in self-care while in nursing school. The busy students heard that it’s okay to focus on taking care of their spiritual, emotional and physical health.
About halfway through the meeting, a woman came in late but almost walked out right away. She was encouraged to stay when NCF staff Kathy Schoonover -Shoffner motioned to her. “She was older and I didn’t know if she was a student or a teacher. At the end of the meeting I introduced myself and told her we were glad she came,” Kathy said.
The woman was a first-semester student in a second career. She thought her next class was in the NCF meeting room and she rushed in, worried she was late. After listening to the program, she excitedly exclaimed, “I’ve been looking for something like this for a long time! What is this? How do I join?”
Kathy told her about NCF and how the chapter meets regularly with luncheons throughout the year. “I chuckled and told her that God had not forgotten her because he directed her to us, even when she went to the wrong room at the wrong time!” Kathy said.
Even in the final meetings of the year, NCF chapters are reaching out to welcome new members and remembering God’s healing grace to all.
Popcorn in hand, an NCF Nurses group in Delaware kicked off Nurses Week with Movie Night. They selected the inspirational film, 
Did you know … ? Nurses Christian Fellowship is both a professional organization and a ministry for nurses, nursing students and educators.
“As nurses, God allows us to be a part of people’s lives during some of their most life-defining times,” said Renee Lick, NCF Student Ministries Director. “We have the opportunity to see how God enters into their places of pain, joy, or heartache. Then we can be a tangible reminder of his presence and help facilitate an interaction between our patients and the God who knows them, sees them, and loves them abundantly.”
Did you know that the word mercy appears in the Old Testament four times more often than it does in the New Testament? What a surprise for those who believe that the Old Testament is full of wrath and judgment!
How do you handle an overwhelming patient load and a high-stress job? Here is how one nurse coped with a demanding shift on her unit.
JCN when you want it…where you want it…the way you want it.
Nurses witness a lot of suffering. When we struggle to make sense out of the rawness of pain, we remember that Jesus willingly stepped into the quagmire of human suffering for a reason:
