God @ work...

Is there Traffic in your Backyard?

Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. As nurses, how do we recognize victims of this injustice? And what can we do for them?

Nita Belles unpacks the issues in the article, Helping Human Trafficking Victims in our Backyard. "Sadly, health workers have not been trained to recognize the red flags that indicate when a patient is a victim of human trafficking," Nita says.

"It is possible one nurse may be the only trusted individual who can connect a victim with desperately needed help," Nita writes. "Trust is key to empowering the trafficking victim to reach for freedom. Nurses are especially skilled at building trust."

JCN Editor Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner adds, "I encourage you to read her moving exposé and realize the opportunity we have as nurses to be a part of rescuing trafficking victims." See Kathy's companion editorial, In My Backyard.

Bible Studies Examine What's Vital

Four new Bible studies for nursing students are now available online. The NCF series, "What's Vital?" has expanded to eight studies covering topics that integrate faith, nursing and spiritual care.

"An NCF faculty advisor called me and asked for Bible studies for her nursing students," said Bonnie Hann, NCF Campus Liaison. "She wanted all of her students to learn how following Jesus relates to what they are learning in nursing school."

After this request, Bonnie created eight Bible studies around issues important to nursing students. They are designed for individuals or for group discussion. Check out the new NCF Bible studies.

How to Help Patients Change

As a nurse, how do you help patients change their unhealthy behaviors?

"Telling people to change simply does not work," writes Luann Richardson in her article, Motivational Interviewing: Helping Patients Move Toward Change. "Unless we see the need or have a desire for change and take responsibility for changing, change is unlikely," she states.

Read more about Motivational Interviewing in this free article from the Journal of Christian Nursing, January–March 2012. CE credits are available.

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Top 5 for 2011

It's been a busy year with 98 articles posted to the NCF Nurses Blog. Here's the highlight reel of our most popular, just in case you missed them: 1. Nurses Trusted to Care; 2. Nurse's Negativity; 3. Give JCN this Christmas; 4. God is God and I am not; 5. Stop the Traffick: the Nurse's Role.

Overall, the NCF blog was viewed 11,000 times in 2011. Check out more news, stories and helpful articles coming in 2012 on the NCF Nurses Blog! We're looking forward to what God will be doing this year!