{"id":760,"date":"2015-03-20T23:14:10","date_gmt":"2015-03-21T08:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/?p=760"},"modified":"2015-03-21T04:34:20","modified_gmt":"2015-03-21T13:34:20","slug":"mar-20-the-first-day-of-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/?p=760","title":{"rendered":"Mar. 20 &#8211; The First Day of Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"shariff\" data-title=\"Mar. 20 &#8211; The First Day of Spring\" data-info-url=\"http:\/\/ct.de\/-2467514\" data-backend-url=\"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/wp-content\/plugins\/shariff-sharing\/backend\/index.php\" data-temp=\"\/tmp\" data-ttl=\"60\" data-service=\"gftr\" data-services='[\"googleplus\",\"facebook\",\"twitter\",\"reddit\",\"info\"]' data-image=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/?p=760\" data-lang=\"en\" data-theme=\"colored\" data-orientation=\"horizontal\"><\/div><p><a href=\"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/snow.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-761\" src=\"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/snow.jpg\" alt=\"snow\" width=\"337\" height=\"224\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Each day I encounter patients who know their date of discharge is approaching.\u00a0 Patients fall into two basic groups when they learn this information:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Those who are thrilled to be going home.<\/li>\n<li>Those who are afraid about how they will manage when they are back at home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ministry to the first group is easy because I love celebrating good news people.\u00a0 These conversations are full of smile and laughs.\u00a0 Many times the patient is already wearing their \u201cstreet clothes\u201d and have all their belongings in bags piled on top of the bed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ministry to the second group is more difficult because the joy in the first group is replaced with fear and anxiety in these situations.\u00a0 I always ask the patients to describe to me why they are feeling the way they do.\u00a0 The answers to this question vary however some of the most common concerns mentioned are these:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I don\u2019t feel strong enough to transfer from the bed to the wheel chair on my own.<\/li>\n<li>I won\u2019t be able to drive immediately and worry about being home and not being able to get something I need from the grocery or drug store.<\/li>\n<li>My children live too far away and\/or lack enough vacation time to spend a few days with me so I can see that I can make it at home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>None of these concerns are frivolous in nature.\u00a0 All of them should be a part of the discharge planning process.\u00a0 Our Care Management Team does their best to address these concerns when designing a discharge plan.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So as a chaplain what is my role in helping the patient cope?\u00a0 I can\u2019t be their live-in care assistant, I can\u2019t be the shuttle that brings them things they want or need from stores.\u00a0 I certainly can\u2019t step in and take the role of their children.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I see my role as letting the patient express their concerns verbally to an impartial listening ear.\u00a0 I see my role as reminding them of their faith beliefs (that is in cases where we have discussed this topic), and simply asking them what resources they do have that they might use.\u00a0 If it is appropriate I offer to pray with them.\u00a0 In instances where the patient has given me information that I am not sure Care Management has heard, I ask the patient if I have their permission to talk to the manager on their case. \u00a0In some of these situations I am given the care manager information that changes what is felt to be appropriate to the discharge plan.\u00a0 In summary, I try to give the patient encouragement and affirmation as well as listen to see that important keys to the discharge plan have not been overlooked due to miscommunication or any other reason.\u00a0 Patients like the fact I take time with them and show a genuine interest in their fears and anxiety.\u00a0 Often they tell me that just our conversation has made them feel better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Each day I encounter patients who know their date of discharge is approaching.\u00a0 Patients fall into two basic groups when they learn this information: Those who are thrilled to be going home. Those who are afraid about how they will manage when they are back at home. Ministry to the first group is easy because &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/?p=760\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Mar. 20 &#8211; The First Day of Spring<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":762,"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions\/762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}