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Sister Joan Coughlin Sister Joan Coughlin is one of 650 Medical Mission Sisters in 19 nations trying to be present to others in the spirit of Jesus the Healer.
The youngest of 9 children, Sister Joan heard many missionary stories while attending Catholic school in Union City, New Jersey. “I always wanted to be a missionary. But I also wanted to be a nurse, and played as a nurse more often than playing as a nun,” she remembers. A priest friend directed her to the Medical Mission Sisters, and she entered after high school. After earning her R. N. at Misericordia Hospital, Sister Joan studied public health and midwifery at the Catholic Maternity Institute in Santa Fe before being sent to Africa. She later obtained her B.S.N. from St. Louis University. In Berekum, Ghana, Sister Joan served as a nurse-midwife, director of nursing services, midwifery tutor, and director of nurses’ training. She was also a nurse-midwife and administrator at St. Mary’s Hospital in Okpoga, Nigeria. At Attat Hospital in Ethiopia, Sister worked as a public health nurse, and was our District Superior. “To have been in Africa for 20 years, and be with those with whom I shared life and work, is pure gift,” she reflects. Upon returning to the U.S., Sister Joan settled in St. Louis. She served as a home health nurse with St. Mary’s Health Center, and as a Community Health Nurse with the Catholic Community Services outreach of the Archdiocesan Center. In the inner city, she was involved in training health workers, and in ministering especially to families and pregnant women. Sister Joan now lives near our North American Headquarters in Philadelphia, where she coordinates services and hospitality for our Sisters who are visiting or on renewal.
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