| Description |
Prayer is a common intervention to relieve stress and help patients cope during times of crisis and difficulty (Simão, T. P., Caldeira, S., & De Carvalho, E. C. (2016). For some, this act is personal and private, while others find solace in collective prayer. This is particularly true for families of patients, who frequently gather around the bedside of their loved one to unite in love, hope, and prayer. The family of a Covid patient intubated in the ICU wanted to do just that, but visitation restrictions limited this opportunity. In collaboration with the medical staff, I was able to arrange for collective virtual prayer using the iPad provided by Imagine Perfect Care. Welcome to Zoom. Because I have a secure Zoom profile, provided by UHealth, I was able to send an invitation to the patient's mother who could then share the link with whomever she wanted to attend the prayer gathering. We were able to tackle typical, small Zoom technological challenges until we had six devices, representing about ten people logged on. Until this moment, the family had been regularly updated on the patient's condition, but they had not seen the situation. After I had donned all the precautionary gear, I took a moment to introduce myself, the intention of our gathering, and prepare the family to virtually enter a Covid positive room. Conversation was cheerful until I turned the screen toward the patient. Silence. The mood of the group became appropriately sober and tears formed on the faces of the people in small Zoom rectangles on my screen. I allowed time for the magnitude of the experience to settle in and for the family members to digest the seriousness of the patient's condition. Thanks to my iPad, the family was able to see the patient, the room, the ventilator assisting their breathing, and the bags of medication hung above their bed. Perhaps that which had been previously only imagined, suddenly became more comprehensible to the family. With one gloved hand holding the device, and the other resting on the patient's shoulder, I invited the family to commence their prayers. Speaking at the same time, they all shared their deepest desires and blessings for the patient. Spirit knows no boundaries. That said, in this particular hospital room on this specific day, technology assisted us to overcome any perception of separation. Simão, T. P., Caldeira, S., & De Carvalho, E. C. (2016). The effect of prayer on patients' health: systematic literature review. Religions, 7(1), 11. |
