Patients are a virtue

News Release: 02 June 2010

Louise Yaull is married with three daughters aged between 10 and 19 years. She spent twenty years working as a registered nurse in NHS hospitals before she was called to train as a Church Army Evangelist.

In the latest edition of Shareit! magazine she says: "My nursing background made me increasingly aware of the spiritual needs of patients as part of their overall health needs, and this has influenced my calling to work as a Chaplain in GP practices, where so many people come for help and support. Whilst hospitals have had a long history of offering chaplaincy care, in general practices it is still comparatively rare.

During my Church Army training to become an Evangelist, I was able to pilot a chaplaincy placement in a large, city centre GP practice in Sheffield. The doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff referred patients to see me on a one-to-one basis.

After being commissioned as an Evangelist in 2007, I started working as a Chaplain in a smaller GP practice in Sheffield that is partnered by two Christian GPs. This has now expanded to working in two other GP practices, one of which does not have any Christian doctors working there. One member of staff told me that although she didn’t share my religious beliefs, she felt that the chaplaincy work was a real asset to the practice."

Read the full article at the Shareit! page.