Amid the nurses, medical technologists, physicians and other healthcare providers preparing patients for surgery at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center come the persons who help care for the patients' spiritual side - St. Luke's on-staff chaplains.
Most pre-surgery patients at St. Luke's receive a visit from Chaplains Steve Pohlman, Bruce Zellmer or Marilyn Rensink, and, if the patient is comfortable doing so, have the opportunity to pray with the chaplain as well.
The chaplaincy staff visit with patients, families and staff throughout St. Luke's six floors and Same Day Surgery Center, in some cases just providing a comforting word and confidential ear, but in other cases, taking the person on a deeper spiritual journey. Assisting them in their ministerial duties are St. Luke's clinical pastoral education students, under the supervision of Pohlman. Community clergy and lay persons also serve as volunteer chaplains at St. Luke's, providing spiritual care in the evenings and early mornings.
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Priests, pastors, ministers, rabbis and other spiritual leaders from throughout the tri-state community St. Luke's serves bring spiritual and emotional support to patients at St. Luke's every day, working with St. Luke's chaplaincy staff to provide spiritual care to persons of all faiths hospitalized for illness or injury or facing surgery.
"Hospital chaplains play a vital role in healthcare," says Rensink. "As people are dealing with their sickness, they are also dealing with their mortality. And we give them the assurance of God being with them - not that we're evangelizing, but we want to deal with our patients and their families holistically, and their spirituality can be a very vital part of their healing."
Praying with a patient and the patient's family is always a humbling experience, says Rensink, noting that in some cases, this may be the first time the patient has had someone pray directly for him or her.
"Talking with patients about their illness, actively listening to them and asking them what we can do to help them is very important," says Rensink, who, as a three-time cancer survivor, brings a special understanding to patients at St. Luke's. "But when we ask patients if it is all right for us to pray with them, and they accept a prayer and pray with us when we come to the Lord together, that's the most awesome moment. They realize that all things are in the Lord's hands."
"We provide pastoral care for patients in all areas of St. Luke's, on many different levels," notes Chaplain Zellmer. He and his partners may offer support to family members whose loved one is in the final hours of life. They congratulate parents on their baby's arrival in St. Luke's Birth Center, and visit with families with sick or injured children in Pediatrics and Pediatric Intensive Care. And the hospital chaplains offer a spiritual message to persons being cared for at St. Luke's for a variety of illnesses or injuries, from serious burns or major surgeries to minor same-day procedures or simple overnight hospital stays.
"Our chaplaincy staff are key players in the care we provide to our patients, as well as to our staff," says Jeanne Johnson, nurse manager of the intensive care unit and also cardiac rehab services at St. Luke's.
"Probably the most important thing our chaplains do, above just ministering and addressing the spiritual needs our patients may have, is helping families make difficult decisions when it comes to end-of-life care, helping them relate to the spiritual part of that," says Johnson. "Many times I've seen our chaplains help ease some family that has had to make a difficult decision regarding a loved one's care. The chaplains help them realize that they made the right choice.
"Our chaplains also minister a lot to my staff, especially when they have dealt with a patient we're extremely close to and who they have seen through a lot of struggles."
In addition, Pohlman, Rensink and Zellmer provide spiritual and emotional support to St. Luke's staff, helping them find faith and hope to make them better able to care for their patients.
Zellmer notes that one reward of hospital ministry is not only being able to provide spiritual care to patients, but being able to witness firsthand the loving, compassionate treatment they receive from St. Luke's healthcare providers.
Chaplaincy care is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to patients at St. Luke's. The chaplaincy staff also works closely with area clergy to coordinate spiritual care to all patients who choose to receive it at St. Luke's.
