Prayer and health care go hand in hand when Ella Collier is on the job. On her bookshelves are Bibles, a Physicians' Desk Reference and books on coping with grief, codependency and divorce. There's a medical scale against the wall and a box of first-aid kits ready to be dispensed during the next health care fair.

But her office isn't in a clinic or hospital; it's connected to a church sanctuary with seating for more than 1,000.

Collier is one of eight nurses in Gwinnett County whose workplace is also a place of worship. She is a parish nurse, able to practice her faith and her nursing profession at the same time.

This issue of Pulse features parish nurses, caregivers who practice holistic nursing and care for a patient's mind, body and spirit. These are registered nurses, not volunteers, who are paid to minister to the health care needs of parishioners at their respective churches.

The responsibilities of a parish nurse aren't more trying than those of a traditional registered nurse - just different. Often, they see things that office or hospital nurses can't, simply because people often are more comfortable talking to a nurse in a familiar environment like their church.

A blood-pressure check or discussion about hypertension might evolve into a discussion that reveals a stressful home situation. Or a worried parishioner might stop the nurse in the church parking lot, and pass on concerns that an elderly homebound parishioner was not receiving the care she needed.

Besides checking on the routine health care needs of their parish members, parish nurses often pick up where registered nurses at hospitals and clinics often can't go. They can talk about their shared faith without fear of making someone feel uncomfortable.

"This is not a job. It really is a ministry," said Mary Lawder, a parish nurse at Norcross United Methodist Church.

"Having the ability to share your spirituality with clients and for that to be the norm, to pray with a client and not to think if I'm going to step on someone's toes if I do this."

Also in this issue, we feature a unique camp for adult survivors of cancer, run by an oncology nurse, where the "C" word stands more for creativity than it does for cancer.

I hope you are having a safe, sunscreened and stress-free summer.