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Healthcare and the Spiritual Dimension

orking as a chaplain in the example, a group of patients was told ituality and healthcare is an important
healthcare profession I have they were being prayed for, as indeed part of our caregiving approach, and I
Wencountered a whole range of they were. A second group was also told believe in it.
approaches to spirituality as it relates to that people were praying for them, but I am also a great believer in the power
the realities of life, health, sickness and no one was. You see where this is going: of touch as a spiritual and therapeutic
death. It is the healthcare professional the first group “won.” tool. As the holiday season approaches,
who regularly sees the stress and suffer- I am encouraged that recently there my mind and heart are turned to those
ing of patients, families and friends as has been movement by professional care- who need to be touched, loved and cared
they come to terms with injury, illness givers to learn more about spiritual care for. This is a wonderful time of year to
and death. It is to healthcare profession- by accompanying chaplains on patient open ourselves to the spiritual realm
als that these patients and their loved visits, as well as by attending conferences within each of us – however we may per-
ones often turn for strength and encour- on the spiritual aspects of healthcare. ceive spirituality – by giving comfort to
agement. This is when healthcare These efforts appear to be helping the someone who really needs it, either by
providers draw on their own spirituality healthcare professionals to be more in speaking to them or by touch or both. As
– whether they realize it or not. tune with the needs of their patients and a hospice chaplain I know that it is often
Part of my work as a chaplain is learn- BY FATHER CARL COLLINS their families, while, at the same time, through such modest means as touch,
ing to understand the unique spirituality enriching and expanding their own spir- reassurance, conversation, prayer, or just
of each individual for whom it is my role itual lives. our simple presence, that we are able to
to provide comfort and guidance. My health and happiness. Whether one In my ideal world, chaplains and other help those who are in distress and spiri-
years as a chaplain and priest have taught views God as loving and forgiving or spiritual counselors would be fully inte- tually vulnerable to experience the peace
me that all people, even self-described judgmental and punishing; close and grated members of a holistic healthcare which soothes the soul and allows gen-
atheists, have their own highly personal receptive or distant and remote or even approach that looked at the person spiri- uine understanding to take root.
approach to spirituality, based upon how nonexistent; this affects one’s physical, tually as well as physically and mentally; Happy Holidays!
they view God and the ultimate meaning mental and spiritual state, including with the chaplain speaking for the spiri-
of existence. I think it would be most one’s attitude toward and experience of tual side just as the doctor and nurses Father Carl Collins, Chaplain, Douglas
worthwhile for healthcare professionals death. spoke for the physical side and the psy- Gardens Hospice, Miami Jewish Home and
to consider and explore how that I find it instructive that recent empiri- chotherapist spoke for the psychological Hospital, can be reached at
approach to spirituality – on the part of cal studies indicate the efficacy of prayer side. Such a system is in place at Douglas ccollins@mjhha.org.
both patient and caregiver – affects in recovery from illness. In one study, for Gardens Hospice, where integrating spir-

Battling Compassion Fatigue SPIRITU ALITY

n a particularly tough weekend in
the emergency department that
Oincluded the death of a toddler,
the suicide of a young man and a teen-
ager killed in a car accident, Sheila
Drohan tried to give comfort not only to
the families of those involved but for
those providing care as well.
Part of Drohan’s job as director of pas-
toral care services for Martin Memorial is
to help families cope in situations such
as those. But she also monitors the hos-
pital staff members, to see how they’re
handling such emotional situations.
Dealing with those situations can
sometimes lead to a condition known as
compassion fatigue, which is a term used
to describe caregivers – including physi-
cians, nurses and others who work in the
healthcare setting – who become worn
down after seeing pain and suffering day Sheila Drohan
after day. That can include everyone
from an emergency department physi- Drohan has spoken with some care-
cian to a nurse on the cancer floor to a givers in groups, including the staff on
social worker in the ICU. the cancer floor. Other times she sees
“We’re affected by what we hear and people individually who are seeking
see,” Drohan said. “We hear how patients someone to talk to about what they’ve
get sick, see how it affects them, their experienced.
families. Everyone involved in a patient’s Drohan said there are ways to work
care absorbs all of that.” through compassion fatigue, including:
Drohan has become well-versed in establishing or joining support systems;
identifying compassion fatigue and help- rotating assignments; getting enough
ing people find ways to get past it. Some sleep, eating well and exercising; cutting
of the signs and symptoms include: back or doing less if necessary.
dread, anxiety, detachment, grief, dis- “It’s important to take care of ourselves
turbed sleep, a quick temper or unex- as well as we take care of others,” she
plained crying. said. “We’re usually too busy to do that
Because the kinds of patients each unit because we’re taking care of others.”
sees is generally distinct, the kinds of That includes Drohan, who has a mas-
compassion fatigue are usually different ter’s degree in religious education and
as well. While events in the emergency has been at Martin Memorial for 15
department may be traumatic, helping a years. She answers late-night calls and
long-suffering ICU patient and his family rushes to the hospital to provide comfort
brings a different emotional element that for grieving families. She counsels staff
may build up over time. who’ve seen an excess of suffering.

South Florida Hospital News hospitalnews.org December 2007 11