Hospital chaplains provide comfort
Carrying a pink and white tote bag with “Chaplain Jessica” stitched on the side, Jessica Shannon walks in search of a patient at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.
“When you’re in the hospital, everything is difficult. Your life is thrown upside-down. My role is to help the children, families and our staff find hope in a mess,” Shannon said.
As a pediatric chaplain, she does that through what she calls spiritual play — helping kids process their feelings by reading books with them, playing games or coloring to create a safe space that builds the relationship.
In the cancer center, Shannon finds the room she’s looking for, knocks on the door and opens it to a mother and her four children. Shannon greets them as if they’re family.
The patient, Gloria Palomino, is a sweet-mannered 11-year-old whose hair is just growing back. Though she’s in the hospital today for a procedure related to treating her acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the child lights up when she sees Shannon.
The two dig around in Shannon’s bag and select a book to read together. As Shannon reads, she asks Gloria questions that correlate with the book about when her heart feels brave, scared or hopeful. And Gloria, in the thick of cancer treat
ment, isn’t afraid to share.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m not going to make it and sometimes I’m happy that (my treatment) is almost over,” Gloria said.
Shannon encourages the girl to share feelings that most 11-year-olds never have to deal with.
“I’m glad you think about everything. We don’t like to push things away, we like to talk about them. Even when you are worried that you won’t make it, you still say you’re going to soldier on,” Shannon said.
This interaction gets at the core of Shannon’s purpose as the resident chaplain: to bring hope to families as they deal with a diagnosis or find a new normal.
“Everyone is going to get the same spiritual support whether they are faith-based or not. I’m going to meet them where they are. I enter their world, they don’t enter mine,” Shannon said.
A profession of faiths
Chaplaincy requires a master’s degree in divinity from an accredited seminary or graduate school and four units of clinical pastoral education. After training is complete, chaplains can join a hospital’s staff or seek a board certification.
Chaplains regularly minister to people of all faiths as their “congregation” continually changes. Randall Trego,
the director of spiritual care at Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital, said his job focuses on compassion for patients regardless of their spirituality.
“When you’re sick, it’s not just about getting fixed physically with medication or surgery. I’m there to sit with the person, listen to their story and offer them any encouragement that might help them move forward,” Trego said.
For some patients, that might involve a prayer. Others may simply want a chaplain’s presence as they express fear or anger.
“I want to hear what they’re feeling and what obstacles they have. I’m not there to change them, I’m there to be with them,” Trego said.
At Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center, George Philipose is the manager of chaplaincy services. He said chaplaincy has grown increasingly multicultural and involves multiple faith traditions. Compassion, Philipose said, is key.
“We don’t just have a Christian chaplain. We have a Buddhist and a Muslim chaplain on our team. We cater to all faiths when people suffer and need a listening ear,” Philipose said.
Intangible progress
In the health care field, where progress is continually monitored and assessed, how do the chaplains measure the largely intangible work they’re doing?
At Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, Shannon does a spiritual assessment every time she visits a patient, making notes in the same chart the doctors and nurses use.
“We can see changes in emotion or demeanor, or a change in the way a patient fights. That could mean they heal quicker or die more peacefully,” Shannon said.
While it’s tough to measure progress with specific patients, Philipose said, the chaplains still have goals. They keep track of the satisfaction rate patients report, as well as how soon chaplains respond to a patient’s request for a visit. This applies to hospital staff as well.
“I’m responsible for every one of our 1,200 employees. I’m going to their meetings, praying with them. We care for the nursing staff and the people who clean the rooms, too,” Trego said. “There’s a joining together of the clinical medical work and spiritual work with deep respect on both sides.”
Tim Byrd is the chaplain at HCA Houston Healthcare Conroe as well as the executive director of the nonprofit organization Conroe Chaplaincy Association. He only sees patients when they, their family or their doctor request a visit — but estimated that he normally sees 3040 patients per day.
In this ministry, Byrd said it’s important to remember to care for himself, too.
“You get to know these families, and they become part of your daily routine. I spend a lot of time outside, and it’s my sense of humor that also helps. Sometimes you have to find something to take away that hurt,” Byrd said.
The other chaplains agreed that self-care was integral to their work — taking time to get outdoors and exercise, spend time with pets and family members and invest in their own faith.
‘Greatest job’
Just before Shannon leaves Gloria Palomino’s room after a 25-minute visit, she gives her a tiny pink bottle of what she calls “prayer bubbles.”
“Every time you blow a bubble and one pops, we know that God is listening to all those things that you’re afraid of and the things that you hope for,” Shannon said.
Walking through each child’s journey with them, whether she’s supporting the parents of a baby in the neonatal intensive care unit or helping a teenager adjust to life after they’re injured in an accident, is the greatest job in the world, Shannon said.
“I’ve had families ask me to speak at their kids’ funerals as much as at their bellringing (ceremony at the end of cancer treatment). It’s a job of joy and sorrow, but I’m so blessed that I get to be part of both ends of it,” Shannon said.