BY: Susanne Mohnkern - FMHF Board Member
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
Have you ever been in a situation where emotions got out of control and you wished you had been able to handle it better? Attendees at this fall’s FMHF retreat were able to reflect on just such a situation and learn more about emotions and the related topic of lament. After careful deliberation, the Fall 2021 Retreat was moved to a fully online event on Sat. September 18th The Rev. Larry L. Lyons, Manager of Spiritual Care Trinity Health System in Livonia MI, provided those in attendance with two seminars - Emotional Intelligence: Patient-Centered Care and Lament: A Journey in Resilience. In his role as hospital chaplain over the past 18 months, Rev. Lyons has been privileged and challenged to work in some of the most extreme conditions seen in the past 100 years in health care as the nation dealt with the global pandemic that strained hospital capacity and exhausted health care providers at all levels.
Emotional Intelligence: Patient-Centered Care - Rev. Lyons provided an overview of emotional intelligence (EI) from Ted. A. James, MD, MHCM at Harvard Medical School. EI consists of self-awareness (knowing your emotions, strengths, weaknesses), self-management (the ability to stay calm when emotions are running high), empathy (identifying with & understanding others); social skills (managing relationships). As such, EI helps individuals outperform those with only high IQ leading to better clinical outcomes via improved communication & teamwork, ability to respond well under pressure, increased empathy, better quality of care & career satisfaction. Chaplain Larry added that EI helps one to recognize the emotion within those for whom we care. He suggested that with increased emotion, the caregiver needs to slow down, recognize the emotion in the room, and perhaps take an emotional time out. Physicians and nurses are striving for positive patient experiences with good patient satisfaction ratings. “Being there” and taking time to sit down and listen are important to patients. Larry quoted a study from the University of Kansas where seated visits took statistically no longer than standing visits but the patient perceived the seated encounters as being almost 2 minutes longer (statistically significant). The related topic of spiritual care during the healthcare encounter was also discussed. According to a multi-site study, a substantial minority of patients desire spiritual interaction in a routine office visit. In the hospital setting, when patients are presumably more severely ill, addressing spiritual & emotional issues is one of the most important parts of care. Since nurses are with the patient and family after the M.D. leaves the room, they play a critical role in provision of spiritual care. A breakout session with small groups helped attendees have a more in-depth discussion. Many practical suggestions offered were thought-provoking and helped practitioners imagine incorporating them in future patient encounters.
Lament: A Journey in Resilience - Continuing with the theme of how our emotions affect our practice, lament was defined for us as a passionate expression of grief/sorrow often expressed in a physical manner. Although painful, lament is essential to psychological health and is often the main pathway to personal growth, compassion, and wisdom. Rev. Larry shared some insights from the Book of Lamentations including how this literary work is a compelling testament to the resilience of the human spirit’s will to live. What followed was a look at the topics of: 1. models of biblical lament; 2. recovery of biblical lament; 3. biblical response to grief and pain is not denial; 4. experiencing lament in not spiritual weakness; 5. feeling distant from God in the midst of lament; 6. the possibility that feelings expressed during lament may not seem very spiritual (e.g. Psl. 13 where King David yelled at God); 7. we can completely trust God and engage in lament; and 8. honest pain turns to honest trust. Honest biblical lament will bring healing and resilience, unity to the church, point us to Jesus/Comforter/Father and move us to action. Attendees were encouraged to question why the Holy Spirit is called the comforter if we were not intended to grieve. With the emphasis on praise and worship, is there space for lament in our churches today? How can increasing our own EI bring healing and comfort to those we encounter? Throughout both seminars, Chaplain Larry used illustrations from his practice to facilitate our understanding of EI and lament. We thank Chaplain Larry for sharing with us such important topics pertinent to our world and our practice as we continue to navigate a global pandemic and healthcare worker shortage.