One of my assignments is training our weekend and evening Chaplain Associates how to use the electronic medical record to enter their visits to patients. We are implementing new changes to the screens this week. So tonight we are meeting in our Information Technology Classroom where everyone will be able to watch in the screen as I explain the changes to the screen and the responses entered.
We will also get to improve the consistency of entries by going through some common situations and showing the preferred way of making these entries. Each Chaplain will be given a scenario and then will direct me on what they would enter in the computer. Before save the entry I will show the preferred way if the entries they give vary from our format. All of this is being done on a test system so it will not affect the data of any patient.
Teaching is small part of the time allotment of my job description. However I do enjoy the time to teach and to listen to students which in the end helps everyone on our team work in synchronization, which is difficult since we also work so independently.
When everything was dark
and it seemed that the sun would never shine again,
your love broke through.
Your love was too strong,
too wide,
too deep
for death to hold.
The sparks cast by your love
dance and spread
and burst forth
with resurrection light.
Gracious God,
We praise you for the light of new life
made possible through Jesus.
We praise you for the light of new life
that shone on the first witnesses of resurrection.
We praise you for the light of new life
that continues to shine in our hearts today.
We pray that the Easter light of life, hope and joy,
will live in us each day;
and that we will be bearers of that light
into the lives of others.
Amen.
This is an Easter Morning Prayer used in the Methodist Church in the United Kingdom.
OGod, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
I am posting this prayer which I have borrowed from the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church.
O Jesus,
it is not the heavenly reward You have promised
which impels me to love You;
neither is it the threat of hell
that keeps me from offending You.
It is You O Lord,
it is the sight of You
affixed to the Cross and suffering insults;
it is the sight of Your broken body,
as well as Your pains and Your death.
There is nothing You can give me
to make me love You.
For even if there were no heaven and no hell
I would still love you as I do! Amen.
I don’t like the pain I know Jesus suffered but I am overwhelmed by the love of God to make Jesus the sacrifice for all human sin.
Tenebrae (Latin for “shadows” or “darkness”) is a Christian religious service celebrated in the Holy Week within Western Christianity, on the evening before or early morning of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Tenebrae is distinctive for its gradual extinguishing of candles while a series of readings and psalms is chanted or recited.
The church where I worship held their Tenebrae service on Thursday night. I was allowed to be a reader to assist in the serving of Holy Communion. The in the visual image of the candles each being extinguished as a different moment of the betrayal of Jesus is read has power. It reminds me that just as those people abandoned him, we also have the option to abandon him. I know I have not been nearly as faithful to Christ in my life as I would like to be. So am using this visual memory of the candles being extinguished as a reminder to be more steadfast to honoring Christ in my life. It is a great way to prepare for Easter.
In recognition of April Fool’s Day I thought I would have some fun and list some things you don’t want to hear in a hospital. I have found that humor is a good tool in chaplaincy ministry. Ask any of the employees where I work, they all know I share jokes constantly!
THINGS YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR IN A HOSPITAL:
A surgeon says “OOPS” during surgery.
The patient who had this procedure lived three whole days afterward.
I am not sure what the right dosage is but this amount ought to help.
A blood sample appears in the lab without any identifying label, and the technician says, “It must belong to the same patient as the sample next to it.”
The patient enters the hospital and is asked, “What funeral home would you like us to call?
Tomorrow I will return to more realistic postings. Enjoy the day!
I’m assuming you’re active in a church; if not, stop reading right now and find one…a great place to start is Find-A-Church at http://www.umc.org.
The following comes from a colleague, with permission to share it; all redactions are mine —
Five generations of my family worshiped there. Grandpa died as chairman of the Church Board.
The Church is now facing closure.
Beautiful wonderfully kept historic building.
Population locally is 10 times literally what it was when my mom and aunt grew up there. Endowment pays the bills. Handful of elderly saints. No one in my family has lived there in over 20 years and I believe I know everyone present except the pastor. No new people in 20 years.
22 worshippers on Easter which they were thrilled about… a generation ago 300+.Lay supply pastor age 80 herself. No fights, no controversy, just massive die off with no replacements. Very sad.
Don’t let this happen to your church. Be active in your church, and be the church all week long.
I apologize for not having a graphic to go with this post.
The incident on my mind today is the encounter with a patient yesterday where the patient did not appear to be doing well. I went back to check on the patient today and the patient was awake and talking, sitting in bed and eating. 24 hours sure made a huge difference in her condition. Many of my follow-up calls do not turn out this well for the patient. So today I am celebrating what went well for a very blessed patient. When things go well it is healthy to experience the joy of the moment. I hope you find ways to celebrate the joyous moments in your life!
I frequently find as I visit patients that one of the things they are seeking is inspiration. More specifically they seek inspiration that their health status will improve. I employ several approaches to help them find inspiration. Some of these include:
Faith based illustrations, Biblical stories, and prayer.
Reminding the patient of the illnesses that medicine can cure that just a few years ago our treatment tools were much less effective.
Asking the patient what inspires them, where they place their hope.
Sometimes I show them a picture that fits in the context of our conversation to bring inspiration.
The picture on this post was in my Twitter feed this week. The person who posted it used these words to describe it, “This insane rainbow thing happened this week in Tynemouth, England.” The instant I saw the picture I knew I had to save it because it would be a tool for helping with patients in the future. I hope as you look at the picture you find inspiration in it! Have a great weekend!
Like most of the pictures I have used this is a stock picture from the internet and not a picture of an actual patient from our health system. (Privacy rights prohibit the use of pictures of actual patients.)
Every week I pray for many patients. I don’t keep track of the number of people I pray for from week to week, but prayer is component of a high percentage of my patient encounters. Today something happened that does not happen frequently. After I prayed for the patient, the patient prayed for me. I was pleased to be the beneficiary of the prayer and also struggled to remember the last time that happened, I do know it has happened at least one other time in the past 6 months.
I am impressed when people want to pray for me even though there is no expectation that they have to offer a prayer. Perhaps that is the heart of prayer; we do it because we want to and not because we have to!
