Day 219
Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic
A series of daily reflections for people of faith
by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor
Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland
pastorrobert@paxpres.org
Week Thirty-two Monday 19 October 2020
Covid Will Not Win:
Meet the People Powering a Hospital in Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Brooklyn, New York
Judy McLaughlin, Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive
“Now for me it’s hitting a little bit more. I have time to think a little bit more, which is not necessarily wonderful. We had our patient zero the first weekend in March, and then within two weeks the escalation was rapid. You were just working, coming home, falling asleep, getting up and doing the whole thing again. The hardest part now is reassuring patients it’s safe to come back. I think there’s still fear of the Fall, is it going to come back again? Are we going to be better prepared with, maybe not a vaccine, but treatment for it at least? I’ve been trying to get healthy again, because all that went by the wayside. I was very proud of us. A lot of that was a lot of key people, the teamwork, rising to the occasion. I don’t think anybody did it any better than we did.” *From a special three-page article by the same name in a national newspaper.
What can we learn from Judy McLaughlin? First, it is obvious she takes her job seriously – it isn’t just a clock-in-clock-out position, but rather one to which she gives serious thought. While her staff and their patients benefit from this, she is also the beneficiary of her own reflections. The call to ‘love God with all our mind’ includes using our minds as much as possible to their fullest potential, even if it “is not necessarily wonderful.”
Second, she carries the heaviness of the anxiety of the patients. “The hardest part now is reassuring the patients …” means she senses their anxiety and, probably at times, struggles to communicate a reassuring word. She could ignore their emotional need but has chosen to carry it within, and the patients are the beneficiaries.
Third, she recognizes the need for self- care. “I’ve been trying to get healthy again, because all that fell by the wayside.” As noble as it sounds, putting patients first is of little value if those who care for them cannot sustain the load due to self-neglect. Jesus recognized what Judy recognizes and told his disciples, “’Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31.
Reflective questions: Judy, from Hebrew Judith ‘she will be praised’ – will you pray for Judy today and ask God to give her a sense of praise, of affirmation to encourage her as she serves others? Which of the three lessons she has for us speaks to you the most? Why?
Reflective Scripture: Isaiah 53:4 – “Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows …”
No comments:
Post a Comment