As professional chaplains we need to be in dialogue with each other about what we do, how we do it, and why we do it a certain way and how these practices benefit our patients. The ultimate goal of MyPractice is to build a consensus about what constitutes “good practice” and eventually establish “Standards of Practice” for chaplains. As with quality improvements in our institutions, this is an ongoing process in order to improve our practice.

To have a description of a practice that you use in your setting considered for inclusion here, write it up and send it to PlainViews for consideration. The Association of Professional Chaplain's Quality Commission’s Best Practice Committee will work with the Managing Editor of PlainViews to review submissions and select articles for publication. Your submission does not necessarily need to be cutting edge (although that’s okay, too). We want to identify “good practices” that could be recognized as standard practice.

PlainViews will highlight one article in the second issue of each month. Readers are invited to respond to the featured practice. Responses will be posted as they are received. This is a great opportunity to start a process that will move us forward in professional chaplaincy.

If you’d like to respond to MyPractice, please send a comment of no more than 400 words. You can use the e-form below (click on "hearing from you," link) or submit your commentary to the editor in the body of an e-mail (or as a Microsoft Word attachment) sent to Info@PlainViews.org. Please put the phrase “MyPractice” in your subject line.

We look forward to hearing from you.

A Blessing of the Hands Service

A Blessing of the Hands service was held at three separate times during the day: 7:30-8:30am; 2-4pm; and 7:30-8:30pm. This was done in an effort to reach each shift. Altogether we probably shared the individualized service with about 70 nurses. The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) and the Administrative Director (AD) of Nursing asked me to lead this service last year and then thought of me again this year as they were planning events for nurses’ week.

I set up a make-shift chapel in one of our education classrooms in the Patient Tower (as our chapel is located in the old main tower) because it is more convenient for the nurses. As a nurse enters the room she is greeted by the CNO and the AD of Nursing and directed to the corner of the room that has become the temporary chapel. 1-3 nurses would stand in front of the table to receive the blessing of the hands (which included a scripture reference, Psalm 24: 4a-5; a brief explanation of what this service was about; a discussion of the significance of the uniqueness of our hands in the healing process; a prayer; and an anointing of the palms of the hands with a small bit of baby oil gel (in a squeeze bottle—it’s easier to administer and clean up). I made it my goal to have the CNO and AD of Nursing be the primary ones responsible for promoting this event. At least one of them were present and in the room each time a nurse received this blessing. Since we are a faith-based hospital, there is a bit more emphasis on the Christian perspective.

BLESSING OF THE HANDS SERVICE

Read Psalm 24: 4a-5

When we reach our hands out to provide care, to do our work as part of the care of others, we are saying to others, “You are important to us, and you are cared for by the efforts of many who value you and your needs.”

Please hold your hands in front of you and observe their appearance. Think of all you do with your hands each day that contributes to the health care needs of our community.

You have chosen to bless others with your hands in the work you do. Now we are going to bless your hands in recognition of the holiness of what you do everyday. Please place your right hand in the palm of your left and extend your hands to receive the blessing.

O Holy God, bless these hands that they may continue to be a blessing to others. Amen

Please read the following prayer silently to yourself before you leave this place.

Holy God, may Your presence be in all that I do. Renew in me awareness of your sustaining love that touches me each day, opening the eyes of my heart to see that you touch the world through the work of my hands. Amen

When you have finished reading the prayer, please look up to me for the anointing of the oil. Using a pitcher of water and a large bowl, employees’ hands can receive an optional symbolic cleansing, after which a small drop of oil is dabbed into each hand as the chaplain reads a special blessing.

“Holy God, bless these hands to be instruments of healing. Amen"

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Blessed be these hands that have touched life.
Blessed be these hands that have felt pain.
Blessed be these hands that have embraced with compassion.
Blessed be these hands that have been clenched in anger, or withdrawn in fear.
Blessed be these hands that have drawn blood and administered medicine.
Blessed be these hands that have cleaned beds and disposed of wastes.
Blessed be these hands that have anointed the sick and offered blessings.
Blessed be these hands that grow stiff with age.
Blessed be these hands that have comforted the dying and held the dead.
Blessed be these hands, we hold the future in these hands.
Blessed be our hands, for they are the work of your hands, O Holy One. (author unknown)

Thoughts to Consider in Explaining Purpose:

Our hands were not created just for ourselves. Take time to remember the tiredness and aching they have known, the cold and the heat, the soreness and the bruises. Remember the tears they have wiped away, our own and those of another—the tears that our hands have caused others to shed, the blood they have bled, the healing they have experienced. How much hurt, anger and even violence they have expressed…how much gentleness, tenderness and love they have given.

Take time to think of your hands. Remember they once were the hands of a newborn baby. Consider all you’ve done and the activities and skills you’ve mastered since then.

How often have your hands been folded in prayer, a sign of both their powerlessness and their power? Think of the handshakes, the pats on the back, the waves of hello or goodbye or even maybe at times, the clenched fist.

Send your comments about MyPractice to info@PlainViews.org.