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When was the last time you prayed at work? In most places, prayer is a private matter. But in Matters of Faith this week we show you how St. Vincent's Health System is making public prayer a part of their patient care plan.
WHEN ILLNESS STRIKES... FEARS RISE.
Martha Seymour is a nurse in charge of a new initiative at St. Vincents called Sacred Spaces. She says she encourages patients to talk about their fears.
Administrators at St. Vincent's Health System, are encouraging something that's been around for thousands of years to help ease a patient's fears... Prayer. Management is encouraging nurses and medical personnel to get involved with the patients and care enough to pray with them.
Martha Seymour is the program administrator. She says she thinks they feel like the spirit of God is there to help them.
Martha Seymore wanted to do more with her nursing thant meet the needs of the patient's hurts. She wanted to reach their spiritual needs as well. So she talked to Sister Dinah White. The senior vice president of mission integration. Then Sacred Spaces was born at the hospital.
Martha says in all her years of nursing this has been one of the most rewarding things she has ever done.
Now the workday begins with prayer before nurses enter a patient's room. And plaques like this are posted to mark the area as sacred. But what does that mean?
Martha says it's peace, joy, contentment and laughter. It's dealing with the needs of the patient medically and spiritually.
Sister Dina White has been ministering to the needs of patients and staff for years here at St. Vincent's and encouraged the staff to incorperate prayer with patients. She says. Spirituality at work if you focus on that you give people the opportunity to bring their heart to work to bring their spirit to work. She believes the result is passionate nurses making a real difference in the lives of their patients. Which was the original goal of the nuns at St. Vincents when it first began serving the sick.
Sister Dina says If you are going to serve others you have to fill your cup. So there has to be a way to make spirituallity real in your life.
Martha Seymour says her Sacred Spaces is Heaven.
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