Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Opinion & Editorial
May 19, 2020 03:01 PM

Hospital chaplains' role evolves during pandemic

Melinda Plumley
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Pastor Melinda Plumley, Orlando Health Dr. P. Phillips Hospital’s chaplain manager, has served as a hospital chaplain for more than 20 years. She serves as chair of the Orlando Health Spiritual Care Council. Her work is a part of Orlando Health’s “No One Dies Alone” program.

    In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our doctors, nurses and other caregivers are rightfully getting plenty of exposure for their heroism and tireless courage in the fight against the disease.

    But one group that hasn't been in the discussion is hospital chaplains, who often spend nearly as much time with patients and families in crisis as clinicians.

    A chaplain's role is to help patients and their families through an extremely difficult time by providing counseling and support, often in the form of physical touch. We seek to help patients face their fear by recognizing and validating it, letting them know it's OK to be afraid.

    We focus on the joy and strength in their lives, finding ways to help them through their pain and fear. For some people, that's God. For others, it's their pets, their art or their work. But the most difficult part is that for almost everyone, it's family.

    But during COVID-19, chaplains have a new challenge: When a patient can't be visited by their loved ones, who are their source of strength, how can we fill that void? Unfortunately, there are no easy answers.

    At Orlando Health Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, my strategy has been to continue validating those feelings. I tell my patients that it's OK to be mad. It's OK to be angry. It's OK to feel whatever feelings they have. We don't provide platitudes like, "Let go of your anger" or "God will only give you what you can handle." They don't tend to help.

    So much of my job is about connections and touch—holding hands, embracing after a prayer, a consoling touch on the shoulder—and that has been made nearly impossible by the virus as well. We read their emotions through patients' bodies, and we can't do that right now. At least not in person.

    Instead, we must be creative and adaptable. It's important to remember that there are still ways of helping our patients, as long as we're willing to make the effort to not let patients feel isolated and alone.

    Often, a remarkable patient story is the best way to remind ourselves what we're still capable of.

    Last month, we had a COVID-19 patient in his 40s who was intubated. He was receiving a treatment called proning, which involves patients being flipped on their stomachs while intubated, meaning he couldn't speak. We feared the worst.

    We had been speaking with the man's wife, and finally had the capability to connect her to him via iPad. I remember her asking tearfully, 'Am I really going to see him?' And it was a great feeling to tell her she would.

    After we passed the iPad to his nurse through a cracked door, the man's wife and children were able to speak to him. Even though he couldn't respond, his nurse told us it was the best thing we could have done for him. His wife said she was given strength just by seeing him.

    The next day, doctors removed his breathing tube, and we connected them again. This time, the patient was able to open his eyes to see his wife. I won't forget hearing her scream in happiness.

    Against the odds, the man pulled through, and was home the next month for his child's birthday. I still tear up thinking of his story and the strength he and his family showed.

    This is just one example of how we can still achieve our goals. I prefer using a tablet computer, where people can see each other. But we can also connect through phones, windows and more.

    In fact, another of my most powerful interactions came when I was speaking to a patient through a window. He was afraid and crying, and I simply put my hand on the window. He raised his hands in the air and cried in a gut-wrenching moment.

    In this challenging time, it can be difficult to find silver linings. But even in interactions with hospital staff, chaplains are reminded of their importance.

    Over the past several weeks, doctors and other clinicians who would previously say hello in passing have stopped me and told me what a hard time they're having, asking if they can talk through their feelings or express some of their sadness.

    Those caregivers are scared, too, and they're realizing that they need to talk just like their patients do.

    Many of them felt called by God to pursue their careers, and now they feel that they're neglecting their families while being forced to live apart from them—sleeping on the couch, in the guest room or in a hotel.

    When we talk it through, it can be a good feeling to know that those doctors are willing to take advantage of what we're there for. And if there's anything good to come out of this, it's been a true blessing to watch relationships formed with colleagues, patients and others blossom.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    NEWS_180709947_AR_-1_BUXUXMLZKOGI.jpg
    Supreme Court denies ERISA suit against Anthem, Express Scripts
    FDA advisers debate updating COVID booster shots for fall
    FDA advisers debate updating COVID booster shots for fall
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing