HMSL Chaplains Help Employees Handle Stress

You frequently see our chaplains making rounds and visiting patients. But did you know that chaplains also provide a range of services to HMSL employees?

It’s true – our chaplains are trained to provide support and encouragement to employees and physicians of all faiths. Helping employees handle both professional and personal challenges is a key component of the Spiritual Care & Values Integration department’s mission.

“Working in a hospital is inherently stressful, because we deal with life and death every day,” said Director of Spiritual Care & Values Integration, Timothy Madison. “When you add that stress to the issues and challenges that we all face in our personal lives, it can be overwhelming. Our goal is to make sure we are visible and available to listen and help – no matter what the issues may be – and that employees have the emotional support they need.”

HMSL chaplains offer five basic levels of support to employees:

• Informal one-on-one engagement, typically brief conversations, that take place as chaplains make their rounds.
• Supervisor-requested referrals for employees who are experiencing stressful circumstances; for example, the death or illness of a family member.
• Prayer huddles, for teams that are experiencing significant stress or undergoing transition. For example, chaplains provided a prayer of blessing when Brazos 4 opened.
• Defusings – either by referral or response to an emergency – to help employees who have experienced a Code Blue or patient death. Offering emotional/spiritual support can help build resilience and enable the employee to rebound more quickly.
• Formal Critical Incident Stress Debriefings for groups of employees that have experienced a major clinical crisis. These sessions focus exclusively on building self-care strategies for employees who experience difficult cases.

If you need counseling or support, or know someone who does, contact Spiritual Care & Values Integration at 281.274.7164 .