PAM ROCHE: PARISH NURSE

SEDGEWICKVILLE -- When Pam Roche heads to church, she brings her Bible and her blood pressure cuff.

She never knows when a member of the Sedgewickville United Methodist Church might need a blood pressure check.

Roche, a registered nurse who works at St. Francis Medical Center, also practices parish nursing for the Bollinger County congregation.

People often ask Roche to translate medical to English. She regularly checks blood pressures. "One member walked up to me after church, pulled off his shoe and sock and asked `What bit me, and does a doctor need to look at it?'" she said.

She works full time, is married, has two children, two cats, two dogs and six acres. But wanted a chance to do something more.

In 1995, she and pastor J. Michael Davis attended a meeting at Perry County Memorial Hospital about parish nursing.

"After the luncheon, he and I did a parking lot conversation," Roche recalled. "Ideas were rolling out of my head. I drove down the interstate with a note pad on my knee writing down things we could do."

Two weeks later, she had a plan and became a volunteer parish nurse.

The organized part of parish nursing in Sedgewickville is a monthly workshop on health-related topics. She has talked about domestic violence, home safety, how the mind and body are connected, diabetes, heart disease. In May, she will discuss how to plan a funeral.

"Not all directly relate to religion, but we usually make a connection," she said.

About 60 percent of the congregation is over age 45. So when Alzheimer's disease was the topic, the most frequent questions was "Have I got it?" she said.

"But we also talked about what we could do as a church community to help, things like caregiver relief," Roche said.

"Over the years, I have felt like there is a lot of information I have and the hospitals have. We need to start spreading that information," Roche said.

Bollinger County is medically under-served, with just one physician in Marble Hill. For some, a trip to see a doctor in Cape Girardeau or Fredericktown or Poplar Bluff or St. Louis is out of the question.

Roche said St. Francis has been very supportive. When she needs information about topics, she can call on hospital resources. She also calls on resources at Southeast Missouri Hospital, across town.

She put together a resource book listing doctors, dentists, eye doctors, nursing homes, boarding homes, and extended care facilities.

Davis has moved to a different church, but new pastor Louella Lyons has encouraged the program.

"What Pam does raised the awareness that our spiritual lives are not separate from our physical health," Lyons said. "We are integrated and whole beings. Ministry must be concerned about the whole person, not just the spiritual person."

Roche also sees to her nursing duties for the small congregation.

"She sees that people get their flu shots. She tells people `You need to see a doctor about that,'" Lyons said.

In addition, she does additional volunteer work as the church. Twice a year, the Roche family cleans the church. She helped transform a storage room into a cry room for parents of small children.

"She is extremely organized and manages to work in an awful lot during her days," Lyon said. "I don't know how she gets it all done."