Darlings, PeaceBang has to issue a retraction immediately on her post “Immunity Granted”, as she received this impassioned exhortation from Chaplain E. in her inbox today. I will let E. speak for herself, as she has some schoolin’ to do!
I have to write after reading your post ‘Immunity Granted.’ I disagree, strongly, with your attitude about PPE (personal protection equipment). I disagree about not wearing it as a minister. The purpose of PPE is to protect the PATIENT from the VISITOR, MD, RN, or any other kind of caregiver. They bring germs IN. It is rare that you, the visitor, would get a disease or some kind of infection from the patient (unless it is airborne, like TB.) No one, not even the patient, wants to spread MRSA or CDIFF, or any of the other big nasties. And I promise you, you don’t WANT CDIFF or MRSA.
As a chaplain who works in both hospital and hospice, please do not spread poor information. We in the hospital or hospice at home know: You MUST WEAR your PPE. It is a dis-service to everyone in the hospital: the RNs, the OTs, the PTs, EVERYONE. As a visitor, you come into contact with everyone. You can even remind the patient: “I am wearing this for you, to protect you from everyone else I’ve been in contact with today. We do not want you to be sicker than you already are.” You can still hold hands, hand them tissues, etc while wearing PPE and be ministerial. At the very least, wash your hands with the alcohol rub, which has been shown to be more effective than hand soap.
thanks,
E., Chaplain
In all seriousness, People O’ God, this is something I have never heard in all my years in ministry and it is a huge eye-opener. And glove putter-onner. I think E. was a little bit mean to me (cripes, I’m not TRYING to spread poor information! Sometimes people just don’t know stuff!) but I’m going to chalk up her slap in the face to sheer concern and love for everyone and totally forgive her, because she’s awesome and I’ve been known to come down a little bit hard on folks myself. Just NOW AND THEN.
So PeaceBang is changing her hospital-visitin’ ways, and having just come home from the Appointment-Only Flu Clinic where she begged them to immunize her even though she didn’t make an appointment (and they very kindly assented without any fuss), she is hoping to stay healthy this season and not to infect anyone else.
Thanks for your speedy communique, Chaplain E. We’re all grateful and I bet I’m not the only pastor who learned something very important because of your intervention.
Kiss of peace, PB
Thanks for this reminder! It is very counter intuitive to wear all this stuff but it is truly impossible to believe how compromised the immune systems of patients in hospitals are. Something that we can knock with OJ and rest (or don’t even catch) can kill people who are already sick. Hospitalized patients are used to seeing people wash their hands in their presence and it isn’t a bad practice for clergy in these settings. The same care that is expected of visitors to a new baby (hand washing after arrival, not coming if you are sick, even a little bit, or smell like smoke or onions or perfume, etc) apply to the hospitalized.
This is not new information to me–we learned it in CPE–but it is information I had long ago forgotten. Thanks for the passionate reminder.
Bravo, Chaplain E! I realized that PB’s concerns were counter to my experience, but I was in another zone and so did not comment. My bad. Thank you for explaining that the barriers are not there for us but rather are there for those in the hospital who can die from the germs and such that we can bring to them.
I was recently criticized for not visiting the relative of a parishioner who had had a double lung transplant (they thought it was because he was ‘not a member’). When I explained that I didn’t want to expose him to infection because I hadn’t been feeling well, they were surprised; and then, grateful.