|
BY RITA McINERNEY
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--Henri Nouwen once wrote that death “is the ultimate leap into
faith.” For Sister Sally White this brings “the wonderful belief that
they are seeing God face to face.”
Sister White, a Grey Nun of the Sacred Heart, is one of 12 chaplains in the
pastoral care department at St. Joseph’s Hospital who minister to the sick
and dying on patient floors and outpatient areas.
Both full-time and part-time chaplains at St. Joseph’s Hospital, the
first hospital in Atlanta, include Catholic sisters and lay persons and
representatives of other denominations.
“There is a chaplain on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week,”
said Sister Valentina Sheridan, RSM, department director. “Father Steve
Yander, priest chaplain, anoints every Catholic admitted to the hospital.”
Sister White, a former teacher, has worked at the hospital for 10 years, the
last seven attached to the cancer unit. For her, it’s an “awesome
ministry.” Watching people suffering and dying “is indeed a test of
one’s faith. At the same time one’s faith deepens. Somehow you know
God is with them in their suffering. ...They manifest an inner strength.”
Sister White reflected on her role as chaplain.
“I believe what one brings to ministry is a deep relationship with God,
the mysterious God who works through us. ...You’ve ministered as well as
you could and hope God has the freedom to work through you. For me, that’s
a reality.”
Her pastoral care ministry has a “wonderful continuity,” allowing
her to build rapport with patients and care givers. She first meets them in the
outpatient unit where patients submit to chemotherapy and other prescribed
treatment. She visits many patients again on the sixth floor at St.
Joseph’s where those with cancer are treated. Her presence from the
beginning gives her time to know the people close to patients and their
situations.
“Is there good spouse support, from sons and daughters, from friends,
from their church?” As time goes by, “The family will talk more and
more about the person dying. ...They speak very freely.” Some express
bitterness and anger, particularly if the patient is younger and has young
children.
It’s not unusual for patients to recognize healings that occur in their
sickroom.
“That is the miracle,” she said. Sister White recalls sisters
reuniting at their father’s bedside after not speaking for years, or a
grieving grandmother promising to raise the child of her daughter dying on the
younger woman’s birthday.
There is time--time for the patient and family “to say things they
haven’t been able to say before,” time to remember the past, to
prepare for death, for the family to accept this reality and to be open and
forgiving about quarrels and misunderstandings. There are tears, quiet prayers
and taking Eucharist together, even talk about funeral details.
“I’m not sure one is ever comfortable speaking about death,”
she said. “But the other side of the coin is that the patient wants to be
able to talk honestly. Often the patient feels able to talk with a chaplain
where they can’t talk to the family.”
During illness, Sister White said, “You will see what a person is
really like. Some family members can work through the stages of grief, the
loss, the impositions of time required for care giving, adjustments which often
find a patient having to move in with the care giver,” if there is no one
at home to provide this care.
She is aware of and sensitive to the needs of patients of other faith
traditions.
“People will tell us if they want us with them.” With those who
do, “many love the 23rd Psalm and spontaneous prayer.”
While chaplains walk the journey with the patient and family, the hospital
makes other resources available. Jennifer Currin, St. Joseph’s Hospital
Cancer Network coordinator, supplies information and opportunities for cancer
patients and their family members.
Currin, located in the Specialty Center for Cancer Care and Research, said
the network library is loaded with material “everybody can access.”
Topics cover cancer, wellness, nutrition, spirituality, psychology and
self-help. The information can be found on the Internet, video and audio tapes
and in over 500 books.
Support groups for patients who meet at the hospital include two for women
with breast cancer, called Bosom Buddies, and a group for patients
predominantly in their 30s and 40s. There are groups for women with
gynecological and ovarian cancer and men with prostate cancer. Some of these,
Currin said, are open to families.
A support group for patients and care givers meets weekly at Holy Innocents
Church in Sandy Springs.
Currin is in daily contact with patients and care givers. “Sometimes
the patients are recently diagnosed and are trying to reset their lives around
the multiple losses they’re experiencing.” She sees many devoted
husbands deeply involved in their wives’ illness. “They bring them
for treatment, talk, hold their hand. They want to do lots of research to find
what other options are available,” she said.
Currin sees the traumatic effect breast cancer can have on families. Women
in the support groups talk about their children’s falling grades and
attempts to run away from home. Lately, she said, some children have received
counseling.
Sister Sheridan said the pastoral care department is “totally
integrated” in the patient’s overall plan of treatment.
“We have someone responsible for each floor involved with patient
care,” Sister Sheridan said. “That person meets on a weekly basis
with staffers from other disciplines--nursing, respiratory care, pharmacy.
...All share what they see as patient needs and how to respond.”
In a more sensitive area, they “become advocates for the patient,
making sure the doctors are aware of the patient’s wishes,” she said.
“We don’t interfere, but if we feel these wishes are not being
carried out, chaplains as well as family and nurses, can call a patient care
conference any time. They are certainly advocates for the patient.”
Few try harder to meet patient needs than Sister White who has a long
history of service in the Atlanta area. A native of Atlanta, she came to know
the Grey Nuns as a student at Christ the King School. She taught eighth grade
at Christ the King School for eight years, was principal and fifth-grade
teacher at St. Jude the Apostle School in Sandy Springs for seven years, and
religious studies teacher at St. Pius X High School, Atlanta, for five years.
She joined the pastoral care staff at the Catholic hospital after studying
for the chaplaincy in the Tri-Hospital Clinical, Pastoral and Education Program
offered by St. Joseph’s, Northside and Scottish Rite hospitals. While in
training she worked with young patients and their families at Scottish Rite.
Working with the Mercy sisters, who founded St. Joseph’s in 1898 is
good, and the spirit in the hospital “unique,” she said. “The
spirituality and dignity of the person being cared for has priority.”
|
