Journal of Sacred Work

CONNECTION & Vulnerability: Days 148-152

 "Wish the good old days could have lasted forever," dear friend Dr. Nick Baird texted me after watching "Acts of Caring" on the new foundation YouTube channel (600 site views in 7 days). To go directly to "Acts of Caring" (click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLYPoFrf5qM

    Aging means memories matter more. Memorial Day demonstrates that every hospital needs a Facebook site like RMH Alum. But any hospital veteran can connect with the loving care portrayed in Jeff Kramer's BRILLIANT documentary. 

   The new YouTube site is drawing a crowd because it offers a feast to those who hunger for and wonder about what Radical Loving Care^® looked like at Riverside Methodist (1983-1995) and Baptist Hospitals (1998-2002.) Such care is threatened with extinction unless current leaders nurture it! 

  Maria Popova captures our cravings in the opening of today's spectacular weblog The Marginalian:  "The hardest thing in life isn’t getting what we want, isn’t even knowing what we want, but knowing what to want. We think we want connection, but as soon as contact reaches deeper than the skin of being, we recoil with the terror of vulnerability. There is no place more difficult to show up than where marrow meets marrow. And yet that is the only place where two people earn the right to use the word “love.”

   I claim love for the caregiver relationships across the past 48 years. As Dr. Baird said at the end of his text: "Thank God for our days in the sun."

-Erie Chapman 

Screenshot - Erie with cardiac nurse Renee Speelman from "Acts of Caring"

"All Gave Some, Some Gave All" Days 146-147

This Memorial Day weekend we have an opportunity to not only gather for family outings, barbeques, and fun times but to pause to remember and share in gratitude for all those who have served our country.  Each year in my neighborhood, a squadron of planes fly overhead in antique WWII planes. When we hear the roar of the engines, we run outside and wave wildly as we join in the remembering as our emotions run high. The pilots often circle two or three times and we just love seeing them. I appreciate their dedication and effort to honor of all the men and women who have served so valiantly, those who made the ultimate sacrifice and those who lived to tell. (However most never speak of their lived traumas in war.)

The following is a story of a man, Brian Mc Connell who honors our fallen heroes in an incredibly unique and compassionate manner. Brian has provided dedicated service for over 40 years as an airline worker at the Atlanta airport in Georgia. He is one of the  outdoor workers in the yellow vests who serve where the planes are boarded, loaded and refueled. However, after witnessing the work of the Delta Honor Guard, a group of volunteers who handle extremely personal cargo, Brian discovered his true calling.

Listen to this beautiful story of Brian sharing with is wife  Nora, about the moment when everything changed, and how he’s found a new sense of purpose by honoring the military’s fallen.

Note: This story was recorded in partnership with Delta Air Lines. Top Photo: Nora and Brian McConnell at their StoryCorps interview in Atlanta, Georgia on April 14, 2016. By Morgan Feigal-Stickles for StoryCorps.

Shred by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Why You Might Like the New Foundation YouTube Channel!

For many years now Erie Chapman Foundation has owned rights to several documentaries widely popular in the healthcare community and beyond. We have sold these to dozens of hospitals for educational use. Now we have gathered them together in one place and offer them to you free.

Short films include the classic "Sacred Work" which has been shown in over 400 hospitals, a clip from the great ABC NEWS special "Revolution at Work," and the riveting documentary "Acts of Caring} from the Emmy Award T.V. show "Life Choices with Erie Chapman."

Please take a look and perhaps choose to subscribe (free). The foundation offers all this work for the same reason we offer the Journal: To advance the practice of Radical Loving Care^®.

THANK YOU

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrUaWlrnmC0-K2Mnf51bwXg

Let us know what you think!

-Erie

"Thursday's Baby" - How A Tiny Infant Saved A Giant Hospital

This is how the ORIGINAL Thursday's Baby came about at the former Baptist Hospital (now St. Thomas Midtown).  CLICK BELOW FOR video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq8-bV8lmuQ

   BACKGROUND: When I saw the video of the birth of tiny Nicole Renee Brady in 1999 I knew she had saved the life of Nashville's biggest hospital, Baptist. When I arrived as its new CEO in 1998 the first news I was handed is that the supposedly thriving hospital would report a $73 million loss. 

  We were on the edge of bankruptcy. 

  No single action can turn around a loss like that quickly. But three years later we reported a $1 million gain.

   It took many changes and initiatives. But Nicole started our turnaround.

   One of my first decisions was to focus resources on women's health. With no budget for ads, I created one, composed the music and we put it on the air in early 1999. 

  The response was spectacular. Our women's health program began as run that took us from delivering 52% of Nashville's babies to 65% three years later. 

   Here's the story in a short video.

   Thank you, Nicole. You're 24 years old now and I hope your life is booming!

-Erie Chapman 

 

 

   

Punched in the Face - Days 141-145

   It is one of the best quotes ever. Second only too, "Where attention goes, energy flows."

   "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" The star who created the quote punched people in the face so well that he became world heavyweight boxing champ: Mike Tyson.

 Ninety-five percent of the thousands of organizations I have worked for and with have a "strategic plan." Usually it covers three years. What plan can survive the certainty of endless uncertainties.

   As a trial lawyer I was driven by ethical values. But, my days were filed more with tactics on winning than overall strategies. Entering the structured hospital world in 1975, I learned that a written strategy was required. Eventually, I learned that the "punch-in-the-mouth" phenomenon sabotaged every plan.

   The living, breathing part of any strategy, its heart, must be as flexible and dynamic as the counter-punching world. Thus, principles matter most.

   Missions are nice and frustratingly fraudulent. Hospitals offer "the best care anywhere." When they fail staff say, "That was just our goal." 

   Tyson's career proved why principles matter. He won championships, but was a failure because he fought dirty. In one bout , he literally bit his opponent's ear off! 

   Mission without vision is useless. Vision without effective action is failure. Action without values bends ethics.

   Leaders only succeed with a culture of peak competence and deep compassion. Caregivers succeed the same way. 

   The Mayo Clinic, everybody's gold standard, succeeds not because of mission or vision. They succeed because every staff member is held to the famous "Mayo Way" of doing things. 

   Such a culture survives "punches in the mouth" and wins the championship every year. 

NOTE: Tune to the new Erie Chapman Foundation YouTube channel for prize winning videos of caregiving in action! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrUaWlrnmC0-K2Mnf51bwXg

-Erie Chapman

Tyson-Holyfield photo copyright Daily Mirror

   

The Gift of Accompaniment Days 138-139

During the month of May, we have an opportunity to highlight the vocation of nursing. As I began reflecting back on my nursing journey and where it has led me,  I penned these thoughts in the wee hours of the morning. 

One aspect of nursing that I love is the versatility that it offers. As I look back over my career in this profession, I've held so many varied roles and positions. My first job in healthcare was in High School when I worked as a psychiatric aide in an in-patient facility in Vermont. Next, as a nursing aid while attending college in CA.

Once accepted into nursing school, I lived in and cared for a dear family friend until she died of cancer at age 42. It was then that my calling to be there for people who were experiencing serious illness became known to me. My first job as a RN was at St Joseph Hospital on the oncology unit. 

I continued my studies while working and discovered home health during my community health rotation. I loved the experience of going into the homes of patients and I found this aspect of nursing to be so rewarding, affording the unique opportunity to get to know and care for the person and family in a holistic manner. What a rich experience to be present and bear witness to how people cope with illness, and recovery. To accompany people, ease their fears, provide comfort and encouragement. To be there when people need you the most, when confronted with illness, suffering, and to honor their desire to be at home surrounded by loved ones at the end of life.

Through the years, I assumed various leadership roles in nursing operations, and along with my colleagues started an oncology program with a high tech nursing team, nursing education, and in the pioneering days started a palliative care program. Once the kids were grown, I returned to college for my masters degree with a focus on end of life care, education and leadership. I have worked one for a faith-based organization for the majority of my career, 4 years in the hospital, (left and worked for 2 other home health agencies, then returned to St. Joes) and have been serving for 33 years in Providence St Joseph Health.  

I've worked part time in Mission Integration for the past 20 years and I transitioned full time in Mission 3 years ago. Working in Catholic healthcare has enriched my life in profound and beautiful ways. Our foundresses, the Sisters of St Joseph and Sisters of Providence have provided us with a rich heritage and a moral compass to guide us. The Mission, values, vision of health for a better world and our promise to know, care for and ease my way is what we continually strive towards. I am blessed to be part of a community of people who seek a deeper meaning and purpose in their work. Even in these difficult and challenging times in healthcare we find strength in one another.

The greatest gift that I have discovered, if I were to sum it up, is the gift of accompaniment. To be there for one another in times of grief, challenges, to honor the contributions of our colleagues in our comings and goings, in spreading joy, blessings, sharing laughter and tears, celebrations and hard work. Nothing is impossible in a community that cares for one another. For was it not St Vincent de Paul who said, “Love is Inventive, even onto Infinity.”

Liz Sorensen Wessel

The Mother Test™ on Mother's Day WEEK - Days 132-137

I remember watching a 5-year old, mid-tantrum, kicking his mother in the shins and spitting at her. Expecting her to hit him, I was stunned when she simply picked him up and hugged him. 

The Mother Test challenges leaders to ask, "Is everyone I supervise someone I would want caring for my mother?" And the follow-ups, "If there IS someone I don't want caring for my mom why are they still on my team, " and, "What am I as a leader doing to honor the stars that do give best care to all patients?"

The Mother Test™ helps define the practice of Radical Loving Care^®. But why that name?

Mothers Day offers the single most important celebration of any other being on our calendar. As a recognition of a person, it ranks number one.

Even if we dislike our own mom, the image of "mother" identifies what our hearts honor most.  Thus, "Mother" is a proxy for every patient, not just moms. We want t
o be sure that every person, even if we hate their behavior, receives deeply compassionate and completely competent care.

So the big challenge is really, "The Bad Behaving Patient Test." Are we delivering Radical Loving Care^® to hostile patients?

Mothers find ways to nurse and love a child who may seem to personify a devil. Thus, the saying, "That kid is so terrible only a mother could love them,"

But what about strangers? A patient hurls insults and the bed pan at you. Live love here and you do what God asks: loved an enemy. 

-Rev. Erie Chapman

1.  "Nursing Mom" 1973" by Erie 2. Mom Nursing - Today's Parent Magazine 

Day 131 A Day of Remembering

Recently when I went shopping to to pick out a birthday card for a friend, I could help but notice the huge display of Mother’s Day cards. I felt a sudden pang of sadness that I no longer have the opportunity to send a Mother’s Day greetings to express my love.

This week I received this Mother’s Day poem and again I felt my heart squeeze a bit recognizing the experiences of others are not awlays about flowery Hallmark greetings. 

To the Moms Who Are

To the Moms who are struggling, to those filled with incandescent joy.
To the Moms who are remembering children who have died, and pregnancies that miscarried.
To the Moms who decided other parents were the best choice for their babies, to the Moms who adopted those kids and loved them fierce.
To those experiencing frustration or desperation in infertility.
To those who knew they never wanted kids, and the ways they have contributed to our shared world.
To those who mothered colleagues, mentees, neighborhood kids, and anyone who needed it.
To those remembering Moms no longer with us.
To those moving forward from Moms who did not show love, or hurt those they should have cared for.
Today is a day to honor the unyielding love and care for others we call 'Motherhood,' wherever we have found it and in whatever ways we have found to cultivate it within ourselves.
 - Hannah Kardon

When it was time to write today’s reflection, I felt at a loss about what to share… until I began think of some of my own experiences and the love I have received from my mom, and other dear one's who have blessed my life, grandmothers and in being a mother and a grand ma ma, as my heart began to swell with love...

I began to think of creation and the rich diversity of life forms in natuare, trees, flowers, birds, sea creatures, widlife, all expressing love and nurturance and my heart began to sing in remembrance of our interconnectedness with all life and the Love that holds our universe together.

Whatever your circumstance, I send my love and gratitude for the preciousness of your being.

Liz Sorensen Wessel

How Temptation Can Steal Our Identity - Days 126-130

Hospitals, careers, bosses, any one of these can swallow up our identity by using a particular tool: temptation.

Homer's ancient epic, The Odyssey, offers stories of Bible-like temptations as instructive today as they were 3000 years ago. The ancient Sirens used a particularly insidious version. 

On his Mediterranean journey, Ulysses' ship approaches the home of the Sirens, gorgeous maidens whose irresistible songs tempt sailors to jump overboard and swim to them...and to their death. Ulysses knows the danger. To protect his sailors, he blocks their ears with wax.

But he is both wildly curious to listen anyway. He has himself lashed to the mast so he cannot jump overboard.

The moment the Sirens' songs enter his ears, Ulysses begs to be freed. The Sirens promise themselves and a bigger gift: absolute knowledge and power. In return, Ulysses must yield to their captivity. 

Does this sound like addiction? Does it smack of vanity? 

Pavlina Vagioni writes: "The Sirens, as their name in Greek implies, (Σειρήν, σειρή=tie up and drag) are expert manipulators....The victims...will become dependent on their manipulator."

So what? "Many people like being victims because they enjoy others taking care of them," Vagioni continues. "When we transfer to someone else our self-sovereignty because “they know better”, our lives then slowly decay. When we let others 'take care' of our...security, health, or existence, we guarantee that we will have an undignified ending."

The warning embedded in the myth is profound: "The sailors’ eventual death symbolizes the stagnation that occurs after surrendering to others our capacity to think for ourselves," she claims. "For safety or convenience, we have surrendered ourselves." And may not even understand "because we become accustomed to the superficial comfort of being in...“expert” hands..."

Life's temptations can threaten our safety. Can today's Sirens hijack our voice, seduce us into drowning our identity and dissolve what makes us unique? 

-Erie Chapman

Quotes © 2020 Pavlina Vagioni 

Painting: John Waterhouse, Ulysses & Sirens 1891

 

The Art of Nursing Days: 124-125

 

I just love this photo of Florence Nightingale holding the lamp, making her way through the dimly lit corridors of less-than-ideal conditions to care for “the least of these.” She was called to enter into the suffering of others, with kindness as a healing salve, her dedication an inspiration, and her compassion beyond measure. Her contributions had a profound impact in the advancement of nursing practice. We celebrate nurses during the month in which, she was born as a fond remembrance of her dedication.

Yet, it was her deep devotion and ability to see the sacredness in all beings.  She describes it well, does she not? "Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation as any painter’s or sculptor’s work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God’s spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts." ~Florence Nightingale

When I think of what a nurse/caregiver offers these thoughts from Henri Nouwen speak to my heart. “When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.” Henri Nouwen

During nurses’ week (celebrated May 6-May 12) take a moment to think of a nurse who has made a difference in your life and the lives of others. Send them or loving thought or reach out to express appreciation and/or better extend a hug!

A Blessing for Nurses

May rest find you,
In the peaceful moments when all is still,
In the quiet times when you pause
And breathe.
May rest find you
In the chaos of the moment
In the sorrow you seek to heal.
May rest strengthen and bless you.
May it fill your spirit
And give you unearned joy.
May you find rest in the care of others,
In the knowledge of your worth,
In the value of your service.
May the One who gives rest
Bless you and hold you close.
And may you, in your very being,
Be a place of rest for others.

Amen.  

By Sr. Juliana Casey

 Nurses are some of the best people I know!

Honor a nurse by writing their name and sharing one word that best describes that them.

 Liz Sorensen Wessel

"When the world is mud-luscious..." Days 119-123

Spring can thunderstorm rainbows as well as bloom flowers. But my photograph may look as odd and abstract as the grammar and the poetry of e.e. cummings.

   cummings, however, was a genius.

[in Just-]

BY E. E. CUMMINGS

in Just-

spring          when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

 

whistles          far          and wee

 

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

 

when the world is puddle-wonderful

 

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far          and             wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

 

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

 

it's

spring

and

 

         the

 

                  goat-footed

 

balloonMan          whistles

far

and

wee

 

   Every spring since I encountered this poem a half century ago has been "mud-lucisous" and "puddle-wonderful." And every spring that "goat-footed balloon man whistles far and wee" and so do I.  

 

    Thank you, ee. 

 

-Erie Chapman

Photograph - "The Spring of Raining Rainbows" 2018, by Erie