The Healing Hospital Jennifer K. Moore RN
Grand Canyon University: HLT-310 V
August 2, 2015

“O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me” Holy Bible Psalm 30:2
When I first heard the term “healing hospital,” I have to admit, I was confused. Aren’t all hospitals for healing? But as I read through our text and the articles, I realized there is a distinction between the concept of a healing hospital, and the traditional hospital. While it is true that both are places where the sick go to become well, but the healing hospital goes beyond medicine to provide a rich and nurturing atmosphere for healing to take place, with nurses committed to a culture of care and healing. I realized that I happen to work at one of each type of hospital.
To understand the concept of a healing hospital, and why it is important, I will first discuss the traditional hospital environment. One of the hospitals I work in is a county run facility, low on budget, long on patients. The nurses, physicians and staff are wonderful and care for their patients as much as any. However, the hospital is old and noisy. The nursing stations are overflowing with nurses, staff, students, physicians, residents and families. People have to shout to be heard over the din, there are loud intercoms in every patient room, which are not private. The rooms are stuffed with the two patients, and their families. Medical surgical, psychiatric, forensic and pediatric patients all share the same floor, with nurses constantly running from room to room, and loud equipment being rolled around the crowded, noisy hallways.
The nurses, while always upbeat and pleasant, are not being supported the way they should be. Their patient load is large, and many of the nurses work double shifts to make up for staffing shortages. They are subject to harassment by the patients, particularly the psychiatric and forensic, and there is no dedicated break room, or meditative area for them to go to care for their own emotional and spiritual needs during a stressful shift.
In stark contrast, the other hospital I work in is a private facility, brand new, with patient centered care in mind. There are plenty of nurses with a reasonable patient to nurse ratio, and scheduled break relief. The hallways are carpeted, except in the ICU, where they are laminate wood, both of which dampers the sound of equipment being rolled around the floor. Every patient room is private, with an extensive entertainment console, room service with meals made to order, a coffee and snack cart which comes around each floor every morning and afternoon. There is no overhead paging, except to call rapid response or code blue. There are four nursing stations in each patient care area, so they are never crowded or loud. There are roof top gardens outside the ICU and medical surgical units and a meditation room which patients and staff can access alike, and for the nurses and staff a breakroom in each patient care area.
This private facility is indeed a “healing hospital,” in that it promotes a restful and calm environment for patients to heal. Laurie Eberest, in her article “Arizona Medical Center Shows How to be a ‘Healing Hospital’” talks about how people do most of their recovering and healing while sleeping, and that a healing hospital creates an environment where sleeping and resting is promoted (Eberest 2008). Psalm 4:8 says “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety” (Holy Bible, Psalm 4:8).
Eberest also discusses the concept of “radical loving care,” a term originally coined by Eric Chapman. (Eberest 2008). She states that radical loving care encourages nurses to look in themselves and remember that serving the sick is why we went into nursing to begin with. It encourages us to treat our patients in a holistic way, taking into account their spiritual and emotional needs, as well as physical (Eberest 2008). She goes on to say that a hospital can’t be considered a healing environment if the nurses don’t practice a culture of radical loving care. The bible says it this way in Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (Holy Bible, Corinthians 15:58)
For nurses, practicing radical loving care, can be difficult. We have bad days, difficult patients, and staffing issues. Remembering to practice with love can be tough. Linda Dunn DSN, RN, CNL recognizes this and calls us to take charge of our spiritual and emotional health in the work place. She suggests writing affirmations or encouraging statements and leaving them where our co-workers can see them, and creating a meditation area for the staff to reflect during a stressful shift (Dunn 2010). She states that if we can care for our spiritual needs, we will be better equipped to care for the spiritual needs of our patients (Dunn 2010).
I am often reminded of the verse “Physician, heal thyself” (Holy Bible, Luke 4:23). Although the context in the bible is different, where Jesus expected to hear this said to him in Nazareth, I think of it when I realize that I am taking too much of myself to care for my patients, without replenishing; skipping my breaks, not drinking water so I won’t have to go to the bathroom, “holding it” for hours when I do, not getting enough sleep, taking on extra shifts. I do these things because I am committed to my job and my patients, but then I remember Luke 4:23, and I realize that I’m only going to be a good nurse if I take time to care for myself, eat lunch, go to the bathroom, go home on time to see my family, exercise and rest. Once my needs, physiological, spiritual and emotional, are met, I am at my best, and armed with the peace it gives me to give my best loving care to my patients.
The concept of a healing hospital is no longer confusing to me. It is a place where patients come not only for medicine and procedures, dressing changes and surgeries, but also for healing of the mind and spirit. It is a place of rest and comfort, with nurses and physicians who care about who the patients are as well as their illnesses, and by caring for themselves, they are able to provide radical loving care to all who seek treatment.

References
Dunn, L. (2010). Creating Healing Environments: A Challenge for Nursing. Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care, 10.
Eberest, L. (2008, March). Arizona Medical Center Shows How to Be a 'Healing Hospital' [Electronic version]. Health Progress, 89(2), 77-79
The Holy Bible - King James Version. (2012). N.p.: Addison Publishing