communion in hospital?

southsiderosie

mayobumblebee wrote: »

i was not admitted to hospital i was in on a day appointment so in for 4 hours max during this time i was sitting in a waiting room and was approached by a complete stranger who said hello i am the chaplin, then he asked why i was in, had i been up before and would i like him to say a prayer it was a bit hard telling him i didn't want to discuss why i was here to a stranger i felt quite rude. i then thanked him and told him i would prefer not to have a prayer said. he did not ask straight away which i actually would have much preferred over been asked personal details first.

i had no idea what a chaplin was so its only when he offered a prayer that i figured it out

They should have identified themselves as the chaplain from the get-go. I'm no longer a practicing Catholic, but I have been dealing with the long-term of a close relative recently, and during one emergency room visit the chaplain came over to introduce herself, chat, and see if we wanted to pray or arrange for other religious counseling. I thought it was nice, actually - I declined the prayer offer, but she was calm and kind, and we chatted for a few minutes. I think that is what I needed at that moment.

kneemos

Ghost Buster wrote: »

Because they ask on adkission and a bed plan with all patient info is available

I think the op was in the waiting room.

Rasheed

southsiderosie wrote: »

They should have identified themselves as the chaplain from the get-go. I'm no longer a practicing Catholic, but I have been dealing with the long-term of a close relative recently, and during one emergency room visit the chaplain came over to introduce herself, chat, and see if we wanted to pray or arrange for other religious counseling. I thought it was nice, actually - I declined the prayer offer, but she was calm and kind, and we chatted for a few minutes. I think that is what I needed at that moment.

Exactly. A chaplin doesnt neccessarily mean they're going to be shoving communion in your mouth or anointing you. I've worked on a palliative care ward and it can be a horrendous time for not just the patient but the family and friends too. Seeing people so afraid and alone, I'd have loved to be able to sit with them, chat, just be there as moral support or answering questions but never had the time.

In that particular hospital, there was a genius of a Chaplin. He seemed to know exactly how he could help and would often stay with the families all night. They might be praying, they might be chatting or they could just be in silence. He fulfilled whatever role the patient or the family needed and half the time it had nothing to do with religion.

Irish Guitarist

No, I don't find it odd. My father spent a lot of time in hospital before he died so I'm used to seeing priests talking to the terminally ill. My father wasn't interested (although he was never rude and and did exchange pleasantries with the priest) but I saw plenty of patients and their families who did find it helpful to talk to him.

Anyone that can't handle being asked if they want to say a prayer seriously needs to grow up. Some people are religious and find prayers comforting. It's a sad state of affairs when a service that provides comfort to people is seen as "shoving religion down their throat". Should terminally ill people who are religious die without being comforted by a priest so as not to offend oversensitive atheists?

I Heart Internet

Chaplains and chaplaincy services are of great comfort to patients and families in hospitals. I've seen it myself on a number of occasion.

The worrying thing about the reduction in the role of priests and religious is society (and there are many good aspects) is that people like the OP are totally unaware that there is such a thing as a chaplain and that christians and other religious people really do want to offer comfort to sick and dying people.

Remember that many of these hospitals are religious institutions in the first place.

If you're not interested you just need to say. No thanks.

kylith

Chaplains are fine for those that want them, but I've heard reports of some hospitals being snotty to people of no religion, and also of pushy chaplains who have a hard time taking no for an answer.

Conversationally, did you know that people recovering from illness who are told they're being prayed for, on average, do worse than people who are not told. The reason apparently being that if you're told you're being prayed for you start to think that you must be really ill, since they're having to intercede with gods on your behalf. The nocebo* effect at work.

*The opposite of the placebo effect.

I Heart Internet

kylith wrote: »

Conversationally, did you know that people recovering from illness who are told they're being prayed for, on average, do worse than people who are not told. The reason apparently being that if you're told you're being prayed for you start to think that you must be really ill, since they're having to intercede with gods on your behalf. The nocebo* effect at work.

*The opposite of the placebo effect.

Intersting kylith. I'm just throwing this out here for the sake of argument - couldn't there also be a bit of "Ah well, they're praying for me now so I can just sit back and God will get me better" - rather than helping themselves to recover.

I'm sure it's a whole bundle of things with placebo and nocebo effects.

On pushy chaplains - I'd say people, understandably have a lower threshold about having to tell people no when they're unwell. But no doubt, in an effort to "be of help" some chaplains take it too far at times.

"No. It's a lovely word the Lord gave us to use when we didn't want any cake." - Mrs Doyle

kylith

I Heart Internet wrote: »

Intersting kylith. I'm just throwing this out here for the sake of argument - couldn't there also be a bit of "Ah well, they're praying for me now so I can just sit back and God will get me better" - rather than helping themselves to recover.

I'm sure it's a whole bundle of things with placebo and nocebo effects.

Could be, could be alright, a passivity that's generally detrimental. Maybe another aspect of the abdication of personal responsibility that, for some, is inherent in religion

On pushy chaplains - I'd say people, understandably have a lower threshold about having to tell people no when they're unwell. But no doubt, in an effort to "be of help" some chaplains take it too far at times.

"No. It's a lovely word the Lord gave us to use when we didn't want any cake." - Mrs Doyle

When has Mrs. Doyle ever taken no for an answer when it comes to cake?

UDP

My name is URL wrote: »

Fair enough. I've worked in different hospitals at certain times over the years and have never seen or heard about that happening before. It definitely shouldn't be happening and you should probably have mentioned it to an administrator if you felt offended or annoyed about it.

The same thing happened to me in a waiting room in Merlin Hospital in Galway. A priest or chaplain or whatever he was came into the room and started working his way sitting down beside people asking them why they were there if they wanted him to say a prayer with him. I politely told him no but wanted to say something much stronger as I thought it was ridiculous and totally preying on vulnerable people. It seemed so surreal that this was happening in the waiting room of a public hospital. I bet I would get in trouble dressing up in my satanic outfit and asking people if they wanted to pray to the devil with me.

crockholm

Given that I have spent lots of time on the road and living in different places,I didn't always have the support of family and friends around me, and on two occasions when I was hospitalized for a week each, I was on my own with no-one to talk to.

By day 4 I would have talked the ear off of any chaplin of any creed from atheist to zoroastrian,and I'm agnostic.

carpejugulum

My name is URL wrote: »

They won't approach you randomly and ask you to pray. When you're admitted to hospital you're asked what your religion is and if you'd like to be visited by the Chaplain... so contain your faux-outrage at the idea that people are coerced against their will into saying the Hail Mary.

But will I get a bowl of delicious pasta if I say I am a pastafarian?

Odysseus

Ghost Buster wrote: »

Because they ask on adkission and a bed plan with all patient info is available

They ask on admission as it is standard on all medical assessments, however, that information should not be given to non-clinical staff.