25.09.2019
Hospital Chaplaincy – Journeying With Patients in a Time of Need
This article first appeared in the September 2019 issue of the Church Review.
Chaplaincy is a ministry of presence and a ministry of absence. It involves knowing when to stay and, just as importantly, when to go. Chaplains accompany those in need and journey with them. They meet people where they are, without judgement, with no agenda and without expectation. Chaplaincy is about listening and hearing that which is spoken and that which is not named and, if appropriate, helping people to name where they are at.
In recent years, Dublin & Glendalough has put enormous work into the provision of healthcare chaplaincy. The needs of patients, but also the requirement of the HSE to provide a professional service, have seen huge developments in healthcare chaplaincy with the role being defined more clearly. The dioceses have established an oversight committee, headed up by Canon Robert Warren.
The major Dublin hospitals are catered for through a number of hubs. Chaplains serving in these hubs are part of the hospitals’ multi–disciplinary teams and have undertaken Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) training. They provide a 24 hour service (with the help of local clergy who are rostered for out of hours service). They have a line manager within the hospital and also answer to the oversight committee. During their day to day jobs they may meet and serve patients, their families and members of hospital staff. Chaplains work from the ‘religious census list’ based on information provided by patients on admission. Patients can also request a visit from a chaplain through the nursing staff.
Hilda Plant is the chaplaincy team coordinator and serves as a full time chaplain in St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin, which is by far the busiest hospital in the capital. The Revd Terry Lilburn is a part time chaplain. He is based in the Mater Hospital but any hours he does not complete there are transferred to St Vincent’s. Terry also serves in Non Stipendiary Ministry and currently provides pastoral care to the parishioners of Rathmichael.
‘A privilege to enter a patient’s space…’
Hilda explains that it is a privilege to enter a patient’s space and assist with their emotional care. They meet all kinds of people, from those who are practicing Church of Ireland to those who are not practicing but have a quiet faith to those who find their spirituality in other places. They are also trained to provide Holy Communion by extension and the oils of healing along with other services as provided for in the Book of Common Prayer.
“We meet the needs of each patient according to their needs. We go in with no agenda. We are there to offer prayer. But is that what everyone needs? If not, what is their need? Their language may not be traditional and sometimes we help people to reshape their theology. But we make no assumptions. It depends on where we meet people on their journey and where they are on their faith journey. We can listen to their story and feed that back to them in prayer in a way that is authentic to them,” Hilda says.
Terry adds: “Chaplaincy is very different from parish ministry. When a rector visits someone, he or she is informed that they are in hospital and may know why the person is there. A chaplain walks into a strange situation – they know the patient is a man or a woman, but not much more. We meet the patient where they are at and see what they need at that point. The one thing that unites most people in hospital is hope – hope of restoration to their previous condition, that they can go home, that this is not permanent. We try to bring hope and let them know they are not alone in their illness. When they download to us they have an opportunity to process what they are going through. Articulating it, expressing their fears and concerns, helps them to assess what has happened.”
Journey to a place of understanding…
A lot of the work they do as chaplains is based on emotion. Their visit to patients is not a social one. CPE has trained them to go deeper, to navigate and to pick up on what is said and what is not said. They journey with the patient to a place of understanding, using their language. The journey is unique to each person and chaplains accept that one size does not fit all.
Everybody in the hospital has a role. Who else in a hospital is going to provide prayer, if that is what the person wants? Terry points out that often people don’t pray for themselves. They want to know that someone is praying for them. It can be a relief for someone of faith that they don’t have to do this for themselves, Hilda adds. At the same time, the boundaries are clearly defined – patients come into the care of chaplains from somewhere else. Then chaplains hand them back and trust that they receive continued care. They stress the importance of clergy in parishes and the link with rectors enhances the role of chaplaincy.
Both Hilda and Terry undertook their CPE training in St Luke’s in Cork through the Revd Bruce Pierce and both agree that they have been privileged to do so. Hilda points out that the training is also about making your own journey, revisiting the past so that you have a greater understanding of yourself. One aspect of CPE training that Terry found particularly useful was the encouragement to ask the hard question – ‘how is it for you having received this bad news?’ to be able to ease it out in a non–threatening and non–judgemental manner.
Terry was ordained as an NSM in 2010 having been a lay reader since 2003. He had planned to enter full time ministry but then it was suggested that he undertake CPE training. He started his training in St John of God’s in Dublin, thinking of it as an adjunct to parish ministry. He then found himself in Cork and recalls coming to enjoy the work in an acute hospital setting alongside parish ministry as curate assistant in Powerscourt. He then applied for accreditation. “All I wanted to do was to read a lesson in church. That brought me to lay ministry and then ordination and CPE training. Often it is other people who see that you have a gift. I wouldn’t have seen myself as a hospital chaplain but I do now,” he says.
Hilda recounts that there was always something gnawing at her and the journey of life brought her to chaplaincy. She experienced the strength–giving power of prayer first hand when her son had an accident and was not expected to survive. He did survive and Hilda’s journey, starting with a counselling course to help the family deal with what they had gone through, turned towards chaplaincy. She believes that lay and ordained ministry can complement each other.
Both chaplains stress the importance of self–care. Without supervision and self–care chaplains will become overloaded and burnt out and then they are no longer fit for purpose. This involves being aware of what they are doing and processing what has happened each day, leaving work behind when they finish and striving to bring a balance. “We have to realise that we are part of a process. When we leave them [the patient], they are under someone else’s care, the staff, their rector. They are under God’s care. We are cogs in a wheel and they are not abandoned when we walk out the door,” Terry explains.
The Church Review is the diocesan magazine of Dublin & Glendalough. You can learn more about the Church Review and find details of how to subscribe here.