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CATHOLIC NURSE JOURNALS 2011
CATHOLIC NURSE JOURNAL CHRISTMAS 2011
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS JOURNAL IN PDF FORMAT
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Janet Muchengwa National President photographed with Archbishop Vincent Nichols outside Westminster Cathedral after Walsingham 950th Anniversary Celebration Mass March 2011
| National Ecclesiastical Adviser /Chaplain Fr Michael Stack St Osburg's Priory, Barras Lane, Coventry CV1 4AQ Tel 024 76 220402 /07724078905 Email michael.stack3@gmail.com |
National President Janet Muchengwa Flat 3 Centre View Appartments , 4 Whitgift Street , Croydon CR0 1EX Tel 02086499941 Email catholicnurses@live.co.uk |
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National Secretary Mary Farnan 26 Charnwood Rd,Great Barr,Birmingham B42 1JR Tel 0121 251 8515/ 07956527435 Email catholicnurses@msn.com |
National Vice-President Gerry Yates Laurel House , 35 Seaview Road , Herne Bay , Kent CT6 6JB
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| National Treasurer Elizabeth Cooney 5 Shefford Rd.,Seabridge, Newcastle under Lyme,Staffs,ST5 3LE. Tel 0178 261 7872 Email johncooney260@btinternet.com |
Catholic Medical Association Representatives Nora Mc Carthy ,Esther Mensah,Patricia Agisafe
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| Healthcare Reference Group -Events Co-Ordinator Jacqueline Hall |
Other Executive Committee Members Christine Bentley,Teresa Lynch |
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CONTENTS -CATHOLIC NURSE JOURNAL - CONTENTS
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Fr Michael Stack National Ecclesiastical Adviser |
| Page 3 |
Annual ReportJanet Muchengwa National President |
| Pages 4-6 |
Palliative Care –Teresa Lynch |
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Annual Report –Mary Farnan -National Secretary |
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Membership Form to pass on and Diary Dates | |
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FR MICHAEL STACK Ecclesiastical Adviser/Chaplain appointed by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales |
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With the advent of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) recent enquiries and reports into the Care of the Elderly in our hospitals there are for all of us many serious concerns. How are we looking after our senior citizens when they become ill and become hospitalised?
With the restraints of funding after promises of ring fencing on hospital budgets, where as staff are we left??
Yes , the caring consultants, doctors, nurses, other clinicians ,support teams, porters , midwives, paramedics and chaplains continue to be fully available to all patients.
Yes, those who work long 12 hour shifts giving their all for the wellbeing of their patients.
Yes, the Hospital Chaplains continue daily to give their time and energy for all the needs of the patients and staff
Lord ,bless all our nursing staff and all who support them in our hospitals, care homes and hospices.
Lord ,Bless all our patients who are in our hospitals
Lord bless them all as we face the challenges ahead
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A happy and holy Christmas to you all
from Fr Michael Stack |
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Greetings |
ANNUAL REPORT FROM JANET MUCHENGWA NATIONAL PRESIDENT CHRISTMAS 2011 | everyone Since our last AGM, we have been very busy with different activities and meetings |
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We had two executive meetings in London and Walsingham and were all lively ones. I had a privilege of attending my first CICIAMS executive meeting in Dublin end of April. It was a very good meeting and gave me an opportunity to meet the other members. Thanks to Nora for going with me and good wishes and prayers are sent to her as she recovers at home from her recent surgery. I am also scheduled to attend an executive meeting in Rome in November followed by a conference with the theme on Suffering. Members are welcome to attend the conference, details have already been sent to you via email.
On the 26th March 2011, Christine, Mary and I were honoured to be part of the mass at Westminster Cathedral to commemorate the anniversary of the shrine of our Lady of Walsingham. A certificate of attendance was given to us at our annual pilgrimage to Walsingham in June. I would like to thank all those who made it to Walsingham, though we were few, we had a lovely occasion.(photos on website).
This is the year of the family and we experienced this from three of our members became proud grandmothers. The family unit is at the core of our nursing and that why it was sad to see our children go on rampage in the London riots in August 2011.
The Catholic Nurses Guild of Croatia has offered to host the CICIAMS World Congress in 2013 in Croatia and the Catholic Nurses Guild of Zambia is hosting the Congress for English speaking African countries in June-July 2012. I had a privilege of meeting with their president Justina Yamba while on my holiday in Zambia, who briefed me on the preparations which included a visit to the Victoria falls. If we can afford, we will send some of our members who are available to do so.
We remember one of our committed members Joanna Lowe from the St Andrews branch in Croydon, who died in September 2011. May her soul rest in peace. Tribute can be found on the web site.
My sincere thanks to my fellow officers, Fr Stack our ecclesiastical adviser, Gerry the vice president, Mary our secretary, and Liz the treasurer for their hard work and support for all of us.I would also like to thank you all the members for your loyalty and commitment to the association and your support in various activities in your branches. Finally and not the least, I would like to thank the sisters at Coolock convent, for accommodating us at their beautiful place and superb hospitality for our AGM
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It is with great sadness that we announce the recent deaths of Fr Eric Mead for many years our National Chaplain and Josie Lowe a much loved and respected member of our Association. Our prayers are with them both. |
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PALLIATIVE CARE
| BY TERESA LYNCH |
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Those who care for the dying are very well-placed to act as companions and advocates for them. The World Health Organisation defines palliative care as:
“an approach which improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing life threatening illness, through the prevention, …. impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual” (WHO 2011).
The translation of ‘Palliative’ is from the Latin palliare, ‘to cloak’. But symptom control alone does not define palliative care. The late Dame Cicely Saunders who pioneered the hospice movement in the UK was determined to treat what she called the “total pain” of dying patients. She brought a multidisciplinary team to the task of ensuring that physical pain, existential suffering, spiritual needs, and mental health are all properly managed.
In his recent book: Imagining the Future: Science and American Democracy , social commentator Yuval Levin, has described an emerging social culture as no longer being concerned primarily with helping citizens to lead “the virtuous life. He argues that preventing suffering and virtually all difficulty is now paramount. In such a culture he argues that eliminating suffering easily changes into eliminating the sufferer.
The historical and life-affirming expectation of doctors and nurses is to do no harm. The increasingly discussed possibilities of assisted suicide and euthanasia would destroy not only the trusting relationship between patients and professionals at a time of life when trust is paramount, but the speciality itself.
The government’s End of Life Care Strategy suggests that “the definition of the beginning of end of life care is variable according to individual and professional perspectives. It could relate to an elderly person who is becoming increasingly frail (End of Life Care Strategy 2008).
However, any patient’s increasing frailty or chronic illness, does not qualify them for a care pathway which considers patients to be dying. Each situation will require individual analysis. This may include the need to consider antibiotics, appropriate for patients who may benefit from relief of pain caused by infection.
Opioid Analgesia
The potential for complex responses to opioid medication is often overlooked. These drugs must be used with caution for all patients. The WHO analgesic step ladder is a useful guide in using the appropriate analgesic as part of proper assessment within an individualised approach to patient need.
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Abnormal pain sensitivity can be induced by opioids. Opioids may worsen initial pain and increase sensitivity to any other stimulus that normally do not cause pain. This phenomenon, known as ‘opioid-induced hyperalgesia‘ [OIH), is particularly relevant to the palliative care setting.
For the patient, experiencing hyperalgesia, it means that common side effects of opioids are added to by peripheral nerves, spinal cord and central nervous system side effects. This may result in intractable, escalating pain on high dose opioids. Increased opioid doses can cause increase of pain, and other serious neurological complications including seizure, mental status changes, delirium and coma. Reducing doses of the opioid or rotating with other useful drugs, including adjuvant drugs (such as antidepressants or anti-convulsants can be helpful in almost all patients.
Research is needed to establish whether opioid tolerance and hyperalgesia is linked and also whether there are possible genetic differences that cause opioid-induced hyperalgesia. The future of pain control will be greatly influenced by this area of research. Consideration is owed to all patients for assessment of the presence or absence of pain and/or agitation and the nurse’s duty of care.
Such assessment includes attention to the patient’s elimination needs without which distress can be caused which exacerbates the situation and will not be helped by further opioid doses.
Nutrition and Hydration
The House of Lords first defined food and fluids given by tube as medical treatment. And this definition, confirmed in the Mental Capacity Act of 2005, has led to many people wrongly being denied vital food and water.
Dehydration can add to the patient’s discomfort, cause thirst, confusion, severe agitation kidney failure and ultimately death. No one can predict how long a patient will survive without fluids. Some believe that patients without fluids will not experience thirst. This opinion is not universally accepted.
Many terminally ill patients have a reduced oral intake in the last phase of life. This can be due to different causes, such as dysphagia, anorexia, nausea or vomiting or mechanical problems.
The speech and language therapist, as part of the multidisciplinary team, can advise on alleviation of thirst. Good nursing can ensure oral hygiene is a means of comfort and prevention of complications such as dryness of mouth and lips.
Reduced oral intake may be seen as part of the natural dying process, or it may result in clinically relevant dehydration or malnutrition. Communication on this imperative topic in end-of-life care is important for better care and should be research-based (Raimakers et al. 2011).
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Palliative Sedation
In Holland, terminal sedation precedes a substantial number of deaths. (Rietjens et al 2004). Palliative sedation can be seen as an important but rarely needed method of end-of-life pain and symptom control.
Dr Ron Panzer President of the American Hospice Patients Alliance, believes that ”terminal sedation" or "palliative sedation", was never mainly used as a pain control method. It was properly applied for certain clinical conditions: the sedating of a patient whose extreme agitation (called "terminal agitation at the end-of-life"), delusional or psychotic state, or extreme pain could not be managed any other way. Dr Panzer argues that there is also nothing in the original use of "terminal sedation" that required the patient to be denied assisted fluid and nutrition through a feeding tube, IV or sub cutaneous route.
In chapter VII of his internet published book about palliative sedation, Dr Panzer concludes:
“If every patient, no matter what their disease process, is given the same treatment, then the clinically-precise, wonderful interventions that can alleviate suffering at the end-stages of many diseases ... are all "thrown to the wind," and hospice is reduced to a death mill“(Panzer 2011).
Conclusion
Palliative Care can, and should be considered as intensive a type of nursing care as any other. This field of care is one which requires all professionals to be creative and inventive in their practice and particularly effective communicators. Professionals who have concerns about particular treatment protocols in use at a workplace, or the way in which those protocols are being applied should be raised with the appropriate manager or CEO of the employing authority. 6The issue of ‘unfinished business’ is important to be addressed as a very relevant concept to many patients reaching the end of life.
Professionals develop their skills to acknowledge sensitively with patients, the inevitability of death. This allows patients to concentrate on improving the quality of their lives, to put their affairs in order and, wherever possible, to say goodbye before it is too late.
References
End of Life Care Strategy (2008) http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_086277. (Last accessed 27 September 2011)
Levin Y. (2008) Imagining the Future: Science and American Democracy. New Atlantis Books. Encounter Books. New York, London
Panzer R. (2011) Stealth Euthanasia: Health Care Tyranny in America (Hospice, Palliative Care and Health Care Reform). (From chapter VII - Palliative Sedation or Terminal Sedation to Hasten Death).
www.hospicepatients.org/this-thing-called-hospice.html (Last accessed 2 October 2011)
Raijmakers NJ, van Zuylen L, Costantini M, et al. Artificial nutrition and hydration in the last week of life in cancer patients: a systematic literature review of practices and effects. Ann Oncol (2011) ; Jan 3 E-pub. ahead of print]. A systematic literature review from1998–2009, which showed that providing artificial nutrition or artificial hydration to cancer patients who are in the last week of life is a frequent practice. The effects on comfort, symptoms and length of survival seem limited.
Rietjens AC, van der Heide A, Vrakking A, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD, van der Maas, van der Wal, G. (2004) Physician Reports of Terminal Sedation without Hydration or Nutrition for Patients Nearing Death in the Netherlands. Annals of Internal Medicine, 10:506–508. Vol 131, no 3.
World Health Organisation (2011) Definitin of Palliative Care, WHO.
http://www.who.int/cancer/palliative/definition/en/ (Last accessed 2 October 2011).
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On January 25th 2011, with Jacqui Hall who is currently involved with organising Catholics in Healthcare Events, I attended a Catholics in Healthcare Strategy Day in Birmingham hosted by Bishop Tom Williams and James McManus. . Shortly after this event on February 2nd Fr Peter Scott and James McManus were awarded the Papal Good Samaritan Medal for their work in assisting Bishop Tom Williams setting up the Healthcare Reference Group for the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. Bishop Tom Williams has already received the prestigious and rarely awarded Good Samaritan Medal in 2007. On February 10th I attended the Lourdes Mass at Birmingham Cathedral. Our National Ecclesiastical Adviser Fr Michael Stack assisted Archbishop Bernard Longley at the celebration of this Mass . On March 31st, being unable to get to Walsingham this year due to the coincidence of the retreat with the birth of my grandson ,I attended the 950th Walsingham Anniversary in Westminster celebrated by Archbishop Vincent Nichols with Christine Bentley and Janet Muchengwa our president who was invited to represent the Association of Catholic Nurses in the offertory procession .In spite of traffic delays and TUC organised demonstrations against public spending cuts the Cathedral was full to capacity .We are all privileged as an Association by the receipt of the commemorative Certificate awarded to Janet on behalf of our Association in Walsingham in June this year . November, with Mary Bradley, I represent the Association at the Sunday Civic Mass at Birmingham Cathedral.
The Association continues as a stakeholder in NICE consultations on a range of health issues and members with a special interest in any of their consultations should contact us if they wish to become involved Current consultations are listed on the NICE website. . Members are also encouraged to participate in RCN online events on spirituality-information on this can be accessed on a new section of the RCN website dedicated to spirituality in healthcare. Our ACN email list is growing and is a useful way of disseminating information out quickly on a range of biomedical ethical issues and for sending out invitations to events. Members who have an email address and have not yet supplied it are urged to do so on the next membership renewal form. We continue with the CICIAMS international and Association national websites and members of the Executive Committee have consulted and agreed to work on a project of producing an online course on Spirituality in Health for members and non members to access and achieve a certificate for personal interest or continuing professional development .We are still in discussion stages of how to progress with this.
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Are you a mature woman single or widowed and aged 50-65years with a vocation to the religious life – Yes? Contact Sr Mary Thomas Mater Ecclesiae Street Ashton , Rugby,CV23 0PJ or log on to www.mater-ecclesiae-convent.co.uk/ |
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MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR EXISTING MEMBERS ARE DUE BY FEBRUARY 28TH 2012
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| This form should be completed, detached and sent together with the appropriate subscription to:The diocesan or local branch secretary for branch members or return to Mary Farnan National Secretary Association of Catholic Nurses 26 Charnwood Road, Great Barr, Birmingham B42 1JR Tel 0121 251 8515 Please make cheques payable to “The Association of Catholic Nurses of England and Wales” Bank Mandate forms available on request. |
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NATIONAL RETREAT WALSINGHAM FRIDAY JUNE 29th TO SATURDAY 30TH JUNE 2012
Log on to Walsingham website to book accommodation |
NATIONAL AGM & STUDY DAY SATURDAY OCTOBER 27TH 2012
**************** COOLOCK CONVENT STUBBS GATE NEWCASTLE UNDER LYME ST5 1LH TEL 01782 614169 |
 Meals and Overnight accommodation available at the convent
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CATHOLIC NURSE JOURNAL SPRING/EASTER 2011
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS JOURNAL IN PDF FORMAT
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| National Ecclesiastical Adviser Fr Michael Stack St Osburg's Priory, Barras Lane, Coventry CV1 4AQ Tel 024 76 220402 /07724078905 Email michael.stack3@gmail.com |
National Chaplain Fr Eric Mead
St Anne's Presbytery Devonshire Gardens, Cliftonville, CT9 3AF |
| National President Janet Muchengwa Flat 3 Centre View Appartments , 4 Whitgift Street , Croydon CR0 1EX Tel 02086499941 Email catholicnurses@live.co.uk |
National Vice-President Gerry Yates Laurel House , 35 Seaview Road , Herne Bay , Kent CT6 6JB |
| National Secretary Mary Farnan 26 Charnwood Rd,Great Barr,Birmingham B42 1JR Tel 0121 251 8515/ 07956527435
Email catholicnurses@msn.com |
National Treasurer Elizabeth Cooney 5 Shefford Rd.,Seabridge, Newcastle under Lyme,Staffs,ST5 3LE. Tel 0178 261 7872 Email johncooney260@btinternet.com |
| CICIAMS International Representative Jacqueline Hall |
Catholic Medical Association Representative Nora Mc Carthy |
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The Association of Catholic Nurses of England and Wales.
CONTENTS -Catholic Nurse Journal - CONTENTS
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Introduction Fr Michael Stack |
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National President’s Report Janet Muchengwa
Obituary Annie Margaret Stapleton
National Secretary’s Report Mary Farnan |
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Extracts from Message of Pope BenedictXVI World Day of the Sick 2011 |
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A Retired Catholic Nurse’s Perspective Paula Hagan |
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A.S.A.P. Always Say a Prayer – Sandra Hollings |
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Around the Regions |
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Membership Form to pass on and Diary Dates |
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FR MICHAEL STACK
Ecclesiastical Adviser appointed by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
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As I walk the long corridor in the busy City Hospital I see the many individuals who care for those who are patients. I see the paramedics with a patient on a stretcher , I see the doctors walking to the ward to examine and talk to their patients , I see the domestics getting the next meal ready , I see the ward sisters giving out instructions to the staff nurses . I see a team of midwife nurses bringing an infant who is sick to the ward .The staff on Accident and Emergency are dealing with many cases and the Resuscitation Team have been busy through the night. The one shift departs as the next takes on handover.
The X-ray Team are busy as the porters wheel two patients in chairs to the observation ward. Ladies serve tea and coffee to the bedside . The chaplain is seated at the bedside of a frightened patient reassuring her that all will be well. The blood samples are collected and the Ward Clerks direct visitors to the named patient trying to reaffirm some sense of calm in the chaos. Six student doctors follow their mentor to the bedside as the curtains are drawn. A lay volunteer from the Chap[aincy Team reassures a patient whose husband died on the same ward three weeks ago. The medication arrives and the patient is discharged.
Lord , bless all who care and contribute to the well being of all our patients in our hospitals. Renew afresh all of our nurses who give of themselves for the wellbeing of all who are sick. We ask this through Jesus Christ , Our True Healer, Amen |
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From
JANET MUCHENGWA
NATIONAL PRESIDENT
I thank our good Lord for the blessed 2010 and we look forward for more blessings in 2011….. |
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We have a lot of activities lined up for the year. At the end of March, we are going to be part of the mass in Westminister Cathedral to begin the celebrations marking the 950th anniversary of founding the Walshingham National Shrine.Walshingham is a very important destination for us in June every year as we meet as one family from the different deaneries to have our annual retreat, socialize with other members and reflect on our practice as catholic nurses. This is why I urge as many members as possible to come to Walsingham and be part of the celebrations. Please book your accommodation early as I understand rooms are running out quickly.
I am also delighted to announce that we are re-establishing our presentation with CICIAMS [International Catholic Committee of Nurses and Medical Social Health Care Assistants]. I am looking forward to the meeting, first week of March in Edinburgh Scotland. We really have to work together and be attentive to what is happening in the society, the profession and the church. Furthermore, I encourage us to always remember that we should advance our knowledge and holiness, as seen appropriate to the profession and the service of God.
Finally: MEMBERSHIP MEMBERSHIP!!!!!! Thanks to Mary for maintaining the website so well. Let’s make it a challenge to introduce as many nurses to the association as possible. The St Andrews branch in Croydon, Southwark have compiled leaflets and are distributing them in churches around the area and they have had some responses and I am in the process of creating a pamphlet for the association which can be used to let other nurses know about our existence and purpose. I am also urging the working members to join the executive committee in preparation for their leadership roles in the association. The prayer book is also being revised; please don’t miss out on your new copies as we need them to pray every day.
May the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you throughout the year.Thank you.
Janet Muchengwa RGN, BA[Cur].President 2009-2012.
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OBITUARY
MEMBERS PRAYERS ARE REQUESTED FOR THE FAMILY OF AND THE REPOSE OF THE SOUL OF ONE OF OUR FORMER MEMBERS ANNIE MARGARET STAPLETON 26/01/1922-11/01/2011 |
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Apologies to any member who received under paid postage on their Winter 2010 Journal- The first batches were posted with 2 x 1st class stamps but the 3rd last batch with 1X 1st class on the advice of a local post office worker who weighed and sized the envelopes and advised I had paid too much on the others .I have always believed it pays to trust the experts but find that belief can be proved wrong on occasions If any member has not received their Winter Journal and would like one please email or write to me me - contact details listed at front of Journal. Members who have email addresses and have not yet provided them to us are requested to email them to us for communication of events occurring between Journals |
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| From Mary Farnan National Secretary | |
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Every year, on the day of the memorial of the Blessed Virgin of Lourdes, which is celebrated on 11 February, the Church proposes the World Day of the Sick. This event, as the venerable John Paul II wanted, becomes a propitious occasion to reflect upon the mystery of suffering and above all to make our communities and civil society more sensitive to our sick brothers and sisters. If every man is our brother, much more must the sick, the suffering and those in need of care be, at the centre of our attention, so that none of them feels forgotten or emarginated; indeed, ‘the true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for society. A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through “com-passion” is a cruel and inhuman society’ (Encyclical letter Spe salvi, n. 38). ……
Dear sick and suffering, it is precisely through the wounds of Christ that we are able to see, with eyes of hope, all the evils that afflict humanity. In rising again, the Lord did not remove suffering and evil from the world, but he defeated them at their root. He opposed the arrogance of Evil with the omnipotence of his Love. He has shown us, therefore, that the way of peace and joy is Love: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (Jn 13:34). Christ, victor over death, is alive in our midst. ……… When contemplating the wounds of Jesus our gaze turns to his most sacred Heart, in which God’s love manifests itself in a supreme way …….. Especially you, dear sick people, feel the nearness of this Heart full of love and draw with faith and joy from this source, praying: ‘Water of the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear my prayers. In your wounds, hide me’ (Prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola).
At the end of this Message of mine for the next World Day of the Sick, I would like to express my affection to each and everyone, feeling myself a participant in the sufferings and hopes that you live every day in union with the crucified and risen Christ, so that he gives you peace and healing of heart. Together with him may the Virgin Mary, whom we invoke with trust as Health of the Sick and Consoler of the Suffering, keep watch at your side! At the foot of the Cross the prophecy of Simon was fulfilled for her: her heart as a Mother was pierced (cf. Lk 2:35). From the depths of her pain, a participation in that of her Son, Mary is made capable of accepting the new mission: to become the Mother of Christ in his members. At the hour of the Cross, Jesus presents to her each of his disciples, saying: “Behold your son” (cf. Jn 19:26-27). Her maternal compassion for the Son becomes maternal compassion for each one of us in our daily sufferings (cf. Homily at Lourdes, 15 September 2008).
Dear brothers and sisters, on this World Day of the Sick, I also invite the authorities to invest more and more in health-care structures that provide help and support to the suffering, above all the poorest and most in need, and addressing my thoughts to all dioceses I send an affectionate greeting to bishops, priests, consecrated people, seminarians, health-care workers, volunteers and all those who dedicate themselves with love to treating and relieving the wounds of every sick brother and sister in hospitals or nursing homes and in families: in the faces of the sick you should know how to see always the Face of faces: that of Christ. |
Faith in Healthcare
A Retired Catholic Nurse’s Perspective By Paula Hagan
I would like to highlight my thoughts and probably the thoughts of many Christian Healthcare workers who now feel pressurised in a profession that often presents with challenges other than those imposed by none-believers and pro-choice and pro-abortion activists. I was privileged to be a member of the nursing profession for forty three years . |
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My experience as a nurse has traversed several decades and witnessed several changes within healthcare, some good and others more than questionable i.e. abortion, IVF and embryonic stem-cell therapy. One of the most alarming changes involves the desire for legislation to remove the ‘conscience clause’ which is now threatening Christian healthcare and other professionals worldwide. My training began in the early sixties and I remember during my period of theatre training being asked one Saturday morning by the Theatre Superintendant if I was a Catholic. I answered rather bemused in the affirmative only to be told to leave the theatre during the following procedure. The Operation List that I recall now must have had a terminology for abortion that I had not even contemplated in those days. I remember such procedures as RRPC (removal of retained products of conception) and always attributed the procedure to being performed following a miscarriage to prevent infection developing in the womb. However, I now count myself fortunate to have been given the opportunity to leave the theatre, having had no desire to be complicit in abortion. I continued with my training and specialised later in General and Cardio-Thoracic Intensive Care. In later years I gained experience in Occupational Health, Community Nursing, Forensic Nursing, Care of the Elderly and Healthcare Studies. In more recent years I have had the pleasure of nursing with ACROSS in Lourdes, a Shrine close to my heart, where I have had the privilege of visiting since 1968. Throughout my nursing career I have always felt free to talk to patients (often at their request) about faith matters finding this outreach in my profession a great grace for my patients and myself. It was never left to the patient or relatives to arrange visits from clergy of any denomination but instead Hospital Chaplains were informed when patients of their denomination were admitted.
I found it a privilege to work alongside Ministers of all faiths who always acknowledged my own beliefs, transparent enough by the crucifix I always wore. On another occasion much later in my career I remember being unable to attend Mass prior to going on duty in a Nursing Home. Two hours later the local parish priests arrived to give Holy Communion to some of the residents. Before Father left and knowing I was a Catholic He said he had a spare Host and asked if I would like to receive Holy Communion, imagine my delight in knowing that my Lord came to me because I could not go to Him! I do not remember any religious discrimination from colleagues or patients, who on occasions spoke openly about their own faith commitment. One incident pertaining to faith I will always remember, it concerned a male nurse I was working with who was a lapsed Catholic and whose sexual orientation was same-sex attraction. He was a truly brilliant and compassionate nurse who confided to me one night whilst we were on duty that he desired so much to be able to re-orientate from his active homosexual lifestyle and aware that I was going to Lourdes the following week asked me to ask Our Lady to help him. I promised faithfully that I would and asked him to join me in that prayer while I was there. I was indeed unprepared for the news I received upon my return when after Mass on the Sunday I was approached by a another colleague who told me that while I was in Lourdes the male nurse who had asked for prayer had died as the result of a car accident. We never question God’s Providence! The need to retain a spiritual dimension in healthcare may not be accepted by all but I maintain that this is due in many ways to the secularisation of society and lack |
| of understanding of how close one becomes to God when compromised with health issues, especially if they are life-threatening. To be faced with personal mortality can suddenly have a life changing effect on people who may have left their Church or perhaps have never had a particular faith practise; whatever the case, most people who are terminally ill think about leaving loved ones and a ‘hereafter’ when faced with impending death; for Christians there is no doubt about an eternal life. Fear of illness is often triggered by fear of death which in turn often provokes a spiritual dimension were patients may feel the need to confide in or confess to a priest.
It is often through the prayers of family and friends and even strangers who pray constantly for the sick that they gain the strength to cope and try to accept the crosses they bear. Within Catholic teaching we are reminded of the merits of redemptive suffering. What is meant by redemptive suffering? When Christ gave His Life as a ransom for many, in the same way we can unite our own sufferings to His in order to save many souls and gain peace in our own sufferings. The spiritual power of the sick whether in a chronic or terminal state can never be underestimated. The late Venerable John Paul II was a champion of suffering, not in silence but in public as a true witness to redemptive suffering. In his witness so many were drawn to believe in and hope for eternal life; when did we ever imagine we would see a Pontiff so feeble or a Pontiff with a tracheotomy tube. It was not just his feebleness or his tracheotomy tube that drew so many near to him but his complete trust in God, his love for young people, his commitment to the demise of communism, his teaching on the dignity of each human person from conception to natural death, his teaching on the truth of human sexuality within relationships and marriage, in short - his holiness. There will always be a connection between sickness and spirituality, they are inseparable because they are unique to each one of us who believe in the greater happiness of the life to come and the shortness of our earthly existence which we must strive to exercise wisely in the service of all who are made in the image and likeness of God.
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A.S.A.P. Rare and precious thoughts forwarded to members of the Association of Catholic Nurses by email from Sandra Hollings Staffordshire |
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New prayer cards are being printed and one will be forwarded to each member with this Journal. If you do not receive one please let the national secretary Mary Farnan know. The Catholic Nurses Prayer Book has been reprinted -available for purchase from April 2011 price £2.50- from Mary Farnan National Secretary –contact details at front of Journal | |
There's work to do, deadlines to meet;
You've got no time to spare,
But as you hurry and scurry-
A.S.A.P. - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER
In the midst of family chaos,
"Quality time " is rare.
Do your best; let God do the rest-
A.S.A.P. - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER.
It may seem like your worries
Are more than you can bear.
Slow down and take a breather-
A.S.A.P. - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER
God knows how stressful life is;
He wants to ease our cares,
And He'll respond to all your needs
A.S.A.P. - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER. | |
| AROUND THE REGIONSFr Michael Stack our national ecclesiastical adviser informs us that many events that may be of interest to nurses are organized nationally by CHCC the College of Healthcare Chaplains .For further details log on to www.healthcarechaplains.org |
Fr Peter Scott and Mr Jim McManus a Director of Public Health in Birmingham have both been awarded the Good Samaritan Medal –the Vatican’s rarely awarded and highest medal for healthcare. The medals were presented at the Vatican’s Pontifical Health Care Workers Meeting by its President, Archbishop Zimowski on the Feast of the Presentation, 2 February 2011. Past recipients of this medal have included Bishop Tom Williams of Liverpool and Sir Alexander Fleming. |
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CICIAMS International Representative pictured with Janet Muchengwa our National President meeting in London for the Papal Visit Evening Vigil at Hyde Park.IAMS International Catholic Nurses Journal is available online as web page and PDF File Log on to http://www.ciciams.org/nouvellesciciamsnews.html
The Christmas edition 2010 features a short article by Jacqui Hall our CICIAMS |
HEALTHCARE ALLOCATION AND JUSTICE written by Paul Gateley Fr Ashley Beck and Professor David Jones was launched Thursday February 3rd at St Mary’s University. This book written after consultation with healthcare professionals including people who work in Primary Care Trusts, General Practice Managers, Consultants, GPs, Nurses, hospital chaplains and other healthcare providers and advisers argues to listen to what professionals say sharing into the insights of Catholic teaching – Available from leading bookshops at £3.95 |
| THE HEALTHCARE REFERENCE GROUP (HRG) OF THE BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF ENGLAND AND WALES The HRG held an Away Day in Birmingham Tuesday January 26th attended by Jacqui Hall and Mary Farnan. Jacqui is assisting Rose Anderson of the HRG with the planning of a Catholics in Healthcare conference to be held in Northumbria 2012 -which has a key focus on Mental Health . Ushaw College is reported to be closing and courses are being transferred to Maryvale Institute for Distance learning. Log on to www.maryvale.ac.uk for details of distance learning courses on Ministry of the sick at Maryvale. |
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LOURDES PILGRIMAGES We frequently have requests for nurses to assist at diocesan pilgrimages to Lourdes – If you are able to help please contact your local diocesan co-ordinator or Cathedral offices for more information . To help with the Ampleforth Pilgrimage email Anna Mayer at anna@mayer.co.uk or Mrs Annie Bowen- Wright Chief Nurse at bowenwright@talktalk.net. | |
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WALSINGHAM
NATIONAL CELEBRATIONS
Starting
March 24th Walsingham
and Westminster Cathedral Mass March 26th
WALSINGHAM |
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| This form should be completed, detached and sent together with the appropriate subscription to:The diocesan or local branch secretary for branch members or return to Mary Farnan National Secretary Association of Catholic Nurses 26 Charnwood Road, Great Barr, Birmingham B42 1JR Tel 0121 251 8515 Please make cheques payable to “The Association of Catholic Nurses of England and Wales” Bank Mandate forms available on request. |
DIARY DATES 2011
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