Everyday FCN: “What is an FCN anyway?” Explaining your role.

How Do You Explain What You Do?

I was recently talking with someone about how to navigate difficult or uncomfortable topics, especially when people have different beliefs or when someone does not share our faith. As we talked about how to approach those situations, I mentioned that this is a form of spiritual care and that spiritual care is an important part of the work I do within nursing.

Then came the question: “What exactly is spiritual care?”

And I stumbled.

I knew what I meant. I understood spiritual care. I had talked about it many times. But when I tried to explain it in a simple, everyday way, I found myself searching for the right words.

That experience got me thinking about faith community nursing. We can know our role inside and out, understand the education we received, and have a clear sense of what we want to offer our congregation. But when someone who has never heard of a faith community nurse asks, “So, what exactly do you do?” it can be surprisingly difficult to put it into everyday language.

And being able to explain it matters. People need to understand our role in order to recognize when an FCN might be able to help. They may reach out with a question, ask for support, or mention a situation where an FCN can connect them with a resource or provide guidance. If they do not know what an FCN does, they may never think to reach out.

This is especially true because many FCNs serve as volunteers. We may not have an office, scheduled appointments, or people regularly walking through the door asking for our help. People in our congregation may know we are nurses, but they may not understand what it means that we also serve as faith community nurses.

Sometimes, we have to open the door ourselves.

Step One: What Do I Actually Do?

Before you can explain your role to someone else, you need to recognize and describe it for yourself. Start by reflecting on what you actually do as an FCN. Not what an FCN might do in general, but what you do.

You may have a formal health ministry, or your FCN practice may happen informally through everyday interactions. Don’t discount the things you do organically. Think outside the box. What are all the ways you show up for people? How do you use what you learned in your FCN Foundations course to help people maximize their health, their faith, their well-being, and their capacity to live abundantly?

You may lead or facilitate groups, provide health education, support someone through active listening and healing presence, integrate faith into your care, encourage informed health decisions, connect people with resources, or help someone navigate a health concern. Your FCN training may also enhance the work you do in your paid position or other volunteer roles. Consider all the ways you provide whole-person, spiritually integrated care.

Because this is FCN work.

FCN practice does not always arrive with fanfare. It does not necessarily have a clear beginning and end, happen during certain hours, or take place in a particular setting. It can happen anywhere and everywhere. It can happen in a few minutes, over a long afternoon, or through relationships that develop over weeks and months. Sometimes it is visible and recognized. Other times, it may be almost invisible. You may not even realize in the moment that you are drawing on your FCN knowledge and skills. That does not make it any less of your practice.

Write down what your FCN practice actually looks like, including the things you may have dismissed as “just something I do.” Recognizing the full picture of your practice is the first step toward explaining it to someone else.

Step Two: Why Does It Matter to Me?

Now begin putting your practice into words. This is where you move from a list of things you do to who you are and why this work matters to you.

Start with the simple language you would naturally use if someone asked, “So, what do you do as a faith community nurse?” You might explain what you do, who you serve, or how you show up for people. You might say, “A big part of my role is…” or “I use my nursing background to…” or “For me, being an FCN means…”

Then go a little deeper. Why do you love this work? What has FCN practice changed about the way you see people, health, faith, suffering, or your own nursing?

Maybe it makes your nine-to-five work more meaningful and purpose-driven. Maybe it has taught you that you do not always need to have the answer, and that sometimes the most important thing you can do is sit quietly, listen, and be present. Maybe it has helped you see suffering in the world around you differently and given you motivation to respond. Maybe it has changed the way you understand healing, connection, or what it means to care for the whole person.

These personal connections matter because your description should come from your heart, not from a script. Practice saying it out loud. Tell a friend or colleague about what you do and notice which words come naturally. You do not need to memorize your explanation. The goal is to become comfortable enough with your own story that you can talk about it naturally.

Think of it less as creating an elevator pitch and more as finding your language for your ministry. Your words may change depending on who is asking and the situation you are in. That is okay. What matters is that the heart of your explanation remains true to your practice.

Step Three: How Do I Make My Role Visible to Other People?

Once you understand your practice and why it matters to you, the next step is to make your role visible. People need to understand what an FCN does before they will think to reach out. They may know you are a nurse, but they may not realize that you also serve as a faith community nurse or know how your role might help them.

Opening the door can be as simple as saying, “I’m a faith community nurse at our church.” When someone mentions a health concern, you might say, “That is actually something I work with as an FCN.” When a pastor or church leader identifies a need, you can share how your FCN skills might contribute. You can also create opportunities through health education, church newsletters, announcements, groups, resource tables, or other natural settings where people gather.

The goal is not to promote yourself or insert yourself into every situation. It is to help people see the connection between their needs and the support an FCN can offer. Sometimes that may mean simply saying, “I’m an FCN, and this is something I may be able to help with.”

You are not giving a speech. You are opening a door.

A Final Thought: Show Up and See What God Can Do

There is one more piece that is easy to forget: we are not responsible for the outcome.

We are called to show up, be prepared, and do our part. That may mean being ready to explain our role in simple, understandable language, noticing an open door, or having the courage to step through it.

We can open the door, but we cannot control what comes through it. We can plant a seed, but we cannot make it grow. God does that work.

So let go of the attachment to the outcome. Show up. Know your role. Be ready to explain it. Look for the open doors, and when you see one, have the courage to open it.

Then see what God can do with it.

Know Your Role. Own Your Story. Open the Door.

Explaining what you do as a faith community nurse does not have to be complicated. Start by recognizing the FCN work you are already doing. Put words to why it matters to you. Then look for opportunities to share it with others.

Your description does not have to sound like anyone else’s, and it does not need to capture everything you do. It simply needs to help someone understand who you are, what you bring to your faith community, and how you might be able to walk alongside them.

Know your role. Own your story. Open the door.