FOR PATIENTS & FAMILIES
About Our Services FOR
Patients & Families
Pastoral Care
social services/case management
PASTORAL CARE
Pastoral & Spiritual Care
Patients and their loved ones have different emotional and spiritual responses when hospital care is required - whether for surgery, diagnosis, trauma, treatment or giving birth. For many people, religious faith or spiritual practice help them cope with health problems and related issues. Chaplains can offer compassionate support by providing prayer and pastoral conversation, discussing problems and sharing difficult decisions.
At the Elliot Hospital, we recognize that assisting with your spiritual and religious needs is an important part of caring for you as a whole person. To respond to these needs, we offer the services of our Pastoral Care Department. Care is available to people of all faiths and to those of no religious affiliation.
Our Pastoral Care department is comprised of on-staff chaplains who can respond to the needs of various faith traditions. We also coordinate the presence of a Catholic ministry with the Diocese of Manchester through the presence of Eucharistic Ministers and of priests who are in-house part-time and on-call. Our chaplains serve as members of the healthcare team, working closely with nurses, physicians, social workers and others who care for you and your family.
Chaplaincy services include emergency and referral-based spiritual care to patients of all ages and their families and to all staff members. Emergency coverage is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Situations to which chaplains are called include:
· patients/families in spiritual distress,
· at time of diagnosis,
· at time of making care decisions,
· at time of celebration and recovery,
· when goals of care change (e.g., curative to palliative),
· at times of dying/death/high risk of death.
Chaplaincy services are offered in response to spiritual needs such as love, hope, trust, forgiveness, and meaning, as well as to religious ritual needs. Through religious or secular methods, the Chaplain encourages people to draw on their spiritual strengths to cope with whatever circumstances they face.
You may arrange to be visited by a chaplain prior to or during your admission. From outside the hospital dial (603) 663-2338. From within the hospital, simply dial 2338 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. You may reach a chaplain at other times by dialing "0" and asking the operator to contact the chaplain. You may also ask your nurse to contact a chaplain for you.
'Whoever Will, May Enter Here'
You will find the Elliot Hospital chapel located on the first floor, around the corner from the 1890 Café, just inside the Emergency Department entrance by the Security Office.
The Elliot Hospital chapel is open at all times for everyone - all patients, personnel and relatives -regardless of religion. There are no traditional religious symbols in the chapel so that you may meditate or pray in your own way. A notebook located on the front table of the chapel is provided for you to record a concern, prayer request, or celebration so that others may share your burdens and joys. In many ways, this notebook is a record of the spiritual life that flows through every aspect of the Elliot.
Prayer is a powerful force that asks for and welcomes God's help. God is present to aid us in the healing process - to support us in our time of illness, crisis, or need. Prayer helps us overcome fear and anxiety as we seek understanding, forgiveness and love.
These prayers come from various faiths and represent spiritual resources for healing and hope.
My God and Helper - I turn unto You in my time of trouble and prayer for strength.
You are the Healer of the sick and hear my prayer.
Give me the courage to bear the painful;
Give me the faith to rely on Your Presence and
Give me the confidence to work so that I might aid in my healing.
Bless the efforts of my physician;
Give those who help to heal the wisdom of the ages.
Bless the skills of all who are seeking to restore me to health and bless their efforts.
Help me, My God, for the sake of my loved ones and bring me nearer to the day when I shall be able to give thanks to You, in the midst of those who are dear to me, for all Your loving kindness.
Give me patience, give me understanding and give me hope.
May I complete my years in happiness and well being. Amen.
Jewish Prayer on Behalf of the Sick
May God who blessed those who came before us in history and in life, heal ( name ) who is ill. May the Holy One, have mercy upon him/her . Strengthen him/her ; O Lord, reduce the pain and bind the wounds. Give skill to those who help in healing. And speedily restore him/her to perfect health, both spiritual and physical. Amen.
Muslim Prayer of Consolation and Patience
God! There is no god
But He, the Living,
The Self-subsisting, Eternal.
No slumber can seize Him
Nor sleep. His are all things
In the heavens and on earth.
Who is there can intercede
In His presence except
As he permitteth? He knoweth
What (appeareth to His creatures as)
Before or After
Or Behind them.
Nor shall they compass
Aught of His knowledge
Except as He willeth.
His Throne doth extend
Over the heavens
And the earth, and He feeleth
No fatigue in guarding
And preserving them
For He is the Most High,
The Supreme (in glory). - The Holy Koran, Chapter II: Verse 255
Hindu Prayer for The Healing of Body, Mind and Spirit
May the Supreme Lord of the Universe nourish the body so that I may have only auspicious words, that I may see only good things, that I may see the divinity in all things and everywhere experience the many forms of the One Supreme God; that all people on earth may be blessed.
The Pastoral Care Department assists with the Elliot's implementation of the Patient Self Determination Act of 1990. This federal law requires that all adult patients admitted to hospitals and other healthcare institutions be provided written information regarding:
· Their right to make decisions regarding healthcare (informed consent/refusal)
· Their right to execute Advance Directives (Living Will, Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare)
The hospital provides the required information to the patient and documents whether the patient has executed an Advance Directive. Social Workers and Chaplains implement and staff the educational components of this program. Physicians are responsible for assuring that the patient's expressed intentions for medical treatment are documented and implemented.
Click here to view the Advance Directives Care Planning Program Guide.
The Pastoral Care Department assists local clergy so their visits to the hospital are easier and more successful. An identification badge is available to clergy visiting the hospital. We request that any official representative from a religious community obtain an identification badge through the Human Relations Office and check in at the Social Work And Case Management/Pastoral Care Office located on the first floor, past the main elevators and across the hall from the 1890 Café.
Here are some of the guidelines that we hope will be helpful to your in your ministry:
1) Elliot Hospital visiting hours are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Please wear your EHS Visiting Minister ID badge at all times, but especially after 8 p.m. when visitation is limited to authorized personnel only. After 8 pm, ALL visitors must enter through the Emergency Department and sign in at the security desk.
2) A patient census, listed by parish, will assist you in locating your parishioners from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. This census book is located with the Administrative Assistant in the Social Work And Case Management/Pastoral Care Office located on the first floor, past the main elevators and across the hall from the 1890 Café.
3) Reserved parking is available for visiting clergy in the Emergency Department parking lot.
4) Confidentiality is important to our patients. Please note how the Federal HIPAA law pertains to the Minister and patient:
All confidential, sensitive information should be reliably handled without using it for personal reasons.
All written confidential information that is obtained regarding a patient should be destroyed (shredded.)
All patient information is confidential and misuse of information or disclosure to unauthorized persons is grounds for loss of the EHS Ministry Badge and its privileges.
Permission should be obtained from a patient before disclosing any information, such as the following:
with whom you may share the information (Asst. Pastor, spouse, church leaders, congregation, prayer groups, etc…)
sharing the fact that the patient is in the hospital
sharing diagnosis
sharing treatment plan
sharing prognosis
5) When visiting a parishioner on the Intensive Care Unit, please use the special red telephone located in the ICU waiting room to contact the nursing unit for visitation clearance.
6) When visiting a patient in isolation, there are infection control signs near the door that alert the visitor of precautions that must be taken.
7) Thorough hand washing is an important part of keeping infection in the hospital under control.
8) Relay a patient request for something to eat or drink, even water, to their nurse.
9) If a patient exhibits unusual behavior, such as choking, problems breathing, or changing color, call the nurse by using the bedside signal or by going to the nursing station. Always allow medial staff the right-of-way during an emergency.
10) If administering the communion elements, please check with the patient's nurse if you have any questions regarding the patient's ability to swallow.
Please remember that any unethical or disruptive conduct during hospital visitations is not allowed. In addition, room-to-room proselytizing is strictly prohibited as it infringes upon patient care and our patients' right to privacy. Any such conduct will result in expulsion from the hospital. Religious literature may be left with individual parishioners, but the general distribution or the placement of such literature is not permitted.