SHELTON—Rayna Salemme has a special ministry, a ministry that provides physical healing and spiritual healing. As parish nurse at St. Margaret Mary Church, she offers free consultations and health education at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has upended lives and caused anxiety.
Working with pastor Father Ciprian Bejan, she is available to answer questions about the virus and check up on elderly who are confined or ill. Parishioners have her cellphone number and know they can call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, she said. While her scope of practice is different from that of a home-care or hospital nurse, she serves as a resource and helps people navigate through the healthcare system and can assist with what she calls “whole-person healing.”
She recently assisted an elderly woman who fell and broke her leg. While in the rehabilitation facility, she made regular visits, advocated for her plan of care and safe discharge. Rayna meets periodically with Father Ciprian to check on health needs of parishioners.
Since 2013 she has been the parish nurse at St. Margaret Mary through the Griffin Hospital Community Outreach and Parish Nurse Department. The Parish Nurse Program celebrated its 30th anniversary last year and is the longest running parish nursing program in the world, serving more than 40 churches of different denominations in the area.
“I am an educator and an advocate for the parish, and more than 2000 parishioners have access to my services,” she said. “One of my biggest roles is that of advocate, and I listen to the health concerns of people and offer guidance to available resources. Once a month I complete blood pressure screenings and over several years have provided health education programs on a variety of health concerns and conditions of our parishioners, such as living with a chronic disease, how to manage stress and a fall prevention program.” Recently she assisted three senior women of the parish who sustained terrible injuries as a result of a fall.
“My goal is to keep people out of the hospital and to learn how to incorporate healthy practices that can promote health and wellness of mind, body and spirit,” she said, through preventive care and integrative health and healing.
“Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a nurse and help other people, so I feel very blessed to be able to do this. I have always been passionate about my nursing profession and my spirituality to help and guide others.”
She previously was assistant director of nursing at the Lincoln Technical Institute in Shelton and worked in pediatrics at the Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. For ten years, she was family-school liaison for the Shelton Public School System. Rayna currently serves as Vice President of the Board of St. Vincent de Paul of the Valley, a food bank and thrift shop.
In addition to her work as parish nurse, she is a reader and Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister at St. Margaret Mary. Rayna emphasizes the importance of faith in the healing process and says that requires building a strong personal relationship with Jesus, the Divine Healer.
In 2015, she and her husband Lou, who have belonged to the parish for more than 20 years, received the diocesan St. Augustine Medal of Service, which recognizes “unsung heroes” who unselfishly give of their time and talents to build up their parish communities. As a builder, Lou played a strategic role in the church renovation project four years ago. A member of the Men’s League, he also lends his culinary expertise by cooking for people who come to weekly Bingo.
At the request of Father Bejan, both of them were active in the We Stand With Christ capital campaign and served on the parish executive committee.
“We prayerfully considered what they were asking, and we felt fortunate that we were able to give not only of our money but also of our time,” she said.
St. Margaret Mary surpassed its goal of $750,000 and raised more than $1 million and was able to build a much-needed Sacred Heart Parish Center that will benefit the church for years to come by providing a place for CCD classes, youth groups, parish ministries and community organizations.
“We Stand With Christ was based in money, but it is giving to others and to the community. It’s not just about the money but about what the money can do,” she said. “It will help with education, services for people in need, seniors, mothers and children and the working poor.”
She added, “There are many people in our area who suffer in isolation with hunger and health issues. Many are embarrassed or don’t realize that there is someone to help them. As a health care worker, I feel obligated to share my skills and listen to their concerns in order to guide and help them heal. As a Catholic, I feel God has given me the skills to help guide others in need to help them heal physically, spiritually and emotionally. I feel blessed that I can incorporate my profession and faith to help others.”
