By David Lichter
Executive Director
I am sure most of us have grown up on emergency room television shows. Probably most of us have spent time in emergency rooms and can readily recall the emotions that were part of that experience. Emergency departments have a certain feel about them.
Our NACC members and other chaplains who work in emergency departments not only have myriad stories to tell, they most likely also have certain personal and professional traits to work well in those settings.
I tried to research if anyone has identified those traits of chaplaincy, but I did not find any such study or article. Perhaps, after you have read the contributions to this Vision issue, we could create such a portrait!
However, several sites describe traits of nurses in EDs. Could we take a minute here to share some traits of an ED nurse and reflect on whether they are an appropriate way to describe a spiritual care provider as well? Perhaps the ministry of spiritual care in this environment might require other, or even opposite traits.
Let’s take the five personality traits of ED nurses offered on this site. The first is “can accelerate the pace as needed.” Both nurses and physicians have to think, process, diagnose, and decide quickly about individuals’ health circumstances. But would it be fair to suggest that the chaplain might require the opposite trait? As the treatment process is moving rapidly, is it also the disposition of the chaplain to be providing a “slowing down” quality of presence? In the sports world, some athletes describe getting to the point where the “game slows down” even though the pace of the game does not, because one understands the inner logic of the game, and senses the human flow underlying the seemingly frenetic activity.
The second trait, “remain calm in the midst of chaos,” seems like a shared trait with chaplains. The author describes this as being “cool-headed” and “collected” to help the patient calm down. That sounds like the chaplain’s quality of “centered” presence, being attentive to one’s own inner peace, as well as sensing the spiritual and emotional distress in the room along with the sources of life and strength.
The third trait, ability to multitask, seems evident. We have all witnessed and admired the nurses’ and physicians’ abilities to balance the needs of several patients and families, often moving quickly from one to another. The gift of a spiritual care professional, too, is to exhibit and communicate attentiveness to each patient and family in way that they know they are the only ones who matter at that moment. Of course, nurses and physicians can do this, too, but this is a particularly important trait of the chaplain, the singular and sacred attentiveness to this patient in this moment.
I liked the next set of traits, which were identified through a 2014 survey at the University of Sydney — being “agreeable, extroverted, and open.” These include being honest and direct, friendly and sociable, unbiased and objective, socially confident and adaptable. That does not seem like too much to ask, does it? I suspect each of us can identify an ED nurse or physician who fits this portrait. But we do all recognize that so many of us chaplains are introverts, not extroverts! Hopefully, we also are “honest and direct, friendly and sociable, unbiased and objective, socially confident and adaptable.” However, how does our more common quiet side benefit the patient and family in these settings that can be loud and noise-filled?
The final trait noted in this link is “good coping skills.” The author notes that nurses “cannot be emotional or linger over patient deaths … cannot allow the death to have an impact on the care of other patients.” I suspect this is a shared trait with chaplains. Then I wonder whether this “coping” has a type of contemplative quality as chaplains allow the experience of deaths, anguish, and anger to find a place within themselves, and allow a certain reception of that tragedy in their hearts in a way that binds them to that person’s suffering and loss. This is not a psychological “lingering” as mentioned above, but a holy holding of the person’s misery, not unlike the Mary of the Pieta.
So, what do you think? What would be the traits of an ED chaplain? What does one need to do this ministry? Your thoughts are welcome!
