Sarah Wofford and James Yoder, Jr., on a way to honor healthcare providers

Blessing of the Hands: A Gift to the Staff

Part I                                                                                                                                                       Sarah R. Wofford, RN, BSN, M.Div.

Tears rimmed her eyes as she said to me…

“Thank you.  You’ve just reminded me why I became a nurse. I had forgotten…for a long time, I had forgotten.”

This is the kind of reaction that I receive time and time again as I present the Blessing of Hands to individual nurses, doctors and staff.

Though the blessing itself is brief, the message is clearly understood by the spiritual core of these people. It rivets their minds to remember why they chose the careers that they did, namely to offer compassion and healing to those in need.

Today, hospital staffs are expected by all to perform with precise knowledge, assessment, and response with little room for error. My experience is that most are committed to giving their best, but constant stress leads to fatigue and burnout. The fatigue is from a line of work that science and technology are constantly expanding, specializing, and changing. While compassion for others may have guided doctors and nurses to their health-related fields, completing the tasks are often what drives them.

I find that the Blessing of Hands honors the health care providers by reaching deep into their spiritual beings. It verbalizes a pastoral understanding of the work they perform. It acknowledges sensitivity to the energy and emotion they give to those they serve. It conveys confidence in them and empowers them to continue on with a renewed compassion for others.

 

Part II                                                                                                                                                         James D.Yoder, Jr., M.Div., BCC

The Pastoral Services staff at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, Greenville, North Carolina, planned a variety of events for Pastoral Care Week 2004. One event in particular stands out as memorable and was experienced as a gift to the facility employees. This experience was a blessing of the hands.

Although this practice is not an innovation to worldwide pastoral care, it was new to this facility. Thus said, some careful planning needed to be done. We asked questions such as, where should we do this? How do we make this known and comfortable? What kind of commitment do we need from the department staff? Should we build a liturgy around the blessing? What do we use for the blessing ingredient? Through e-mail and face-to-face discussion, we established a fairly comprehensive plan.

The two primary decisions that guided the rest of the planning were to do two services in the hospital chapel and to take the opportunity to every nursing station on day and night shifts. A liturgy for large groups was designed as well as a short prayer preceding the blessing for individuals. In order not to not confuse this with any sacramental practices, we purchased an essential oil combination of sacred cedar and lavender. The aromatic nature of the oil added another sensory component; it also had a downside –a very few reactions [skin, headache, asthma]. A schedule was developed to insure inclusion of all the clinical areas. CPE students were very helpful in identifying some areas to be included and were also involved in the actual services as well.

PCMH is deeply embedded in a religious community. As can be true anywhere, new ideas, i.e., we never did it that way before, can cause anxiety and non-participation. Consequently, we organized an educational campaign. We utilized our periodic Pastoral Services newsletter, separate communication with managers, and posters. One newsletter article talked about the healing use of oils from ancient times; another identified the blessing as ritual and not sacramental; a third communicated clearly that participation was totally voluntary and that the experience would happen in an area of each nursing station sequestered from general staff activity. These articles were spaced over two editions that invited comment or questions. The department Director communicated with hospital supervisors and managers; specific attention was given for them to make staff aware and to encourage questions. Finally, a copy of the full liturgy was distributed via e-mail.

Participation in the blessing was phenomenal. Several supervisors contacted staff chaplains to schedule unit events; others included it in their department newsletters. Two chaplains have been asked to do a similar blessing for a nursing program. Over 700 hundred hands were blessed!

Our learning from this? We need to find better ways to inform night staff. We can be a very positive influence on staff morale. We are an integral part of the hospital system. What more could we ask for?