Vim & Vigor - Summer 2012 - North Mississippi - (Page 52)

just sit with the patient for a while so the caregiver can leave for a bit, or simply take a nap. “We do everything we can to make initial introductions as easy as we can,” Maynard says. “It can seem daunting to go into someone’s home, but the way it is done with us makes it a very smooth transition. Volunteers go through a training process to know what to expect, and we go to great lengths to make sure the volunteer and the family are a good match.” Betty Long from Tupelo became a hospice volunteer because she wanted to give back some of the kindness shown to her when her husband was a hospice patient. “My husband passed away over two years ago after ﬁghting brain cancer for three years,” Long says. “At the end of his life, he was a patient of NMMC Hospice. It helped both of us so much to have someone who would understand and listen. The volunteer chaplain would come out and pray with me, and it touched me so much.” As a volunteer, Long visits patients’ homes to allow the caregivers time to take a break or run errands. Long says the most difﬁcult part of being a hospice volunteer is losing a friend once the patient you have been visiting passes away, but it’s important to her to help when it’s needed most. “You have to know what hospice is, but my goal is always to help the family members get through such a difﬁcult time,” she says. “Within ﬁve years I lost three of my loved ones, so I have been through this so much that I know what the families are going through. I just want to show these people that someone cares about them and is here to help them when they need it. Volunteering has meant so much to me—it has gotten me through these years since my husband passed away.” For more information on becoming an NMMC Hospice volunteer, call 662-377-3612 or 800-THE DESK (800-843-3375). A HELPING HAND Volunteer chaplains at North Mississippi Medical Center community hospitals provide much-needed spiritual assistance to patients, their families and hospital staff. According to James Richardson, director of Pastoral Care at NMMC-Tupelo, the volunteer chaplains play a vital role alongside physicians and nurses to provide complete care for patients. Volunteer chaplains are on call at NMMC hospitals in Eupora, Iuka, Pontotoc, and West Point, Miss., and Hamilton, Ala. Patients or family members can request a visit from a chaplain at any time. Anyone who pastors a church or is retired from pastoral responsibilities can become a volunteer chaplain. Their duties can include visiting and praying with families, providing grief consultation and helping with hospital employees’ spiritual needs. The chaplains meet at least once a year for training, and the chaplains are on call for a month at a time. The ministries of NMMC’s Pastoral Care include: • Visiting patients • Providing pastoral support for families of patients undergoing inpatient or outpatient procedures • Offering spiritual counseling and pastoral care for medical staff, employees and members of the community • Providing worship experiences for patients, employees and medical staff in the chapels and at the bedside of patients • Providing Bibles for patients upon request • Providing sacramental and ritual services (baptism, Holy Communion, marriage) or arranging with representatives of patients’ religious communities • Offering funeral services • Conducting holiday and memorial services • Offering bereavement counseling for families dealing with the loss of loved ones • Helping resolve ethical issues by providing consultation with the Medical Ethics Committee • Working with area pastors and ministers to provide for spiritual needs of the communities CALL Compassionate Care, When You Need It Most Volunteer chaplains lend a shoulder to lean on in the most trying times. To learn more about NMMC’s Pastoral Care program and the services offered, call 662-377-3439 or 800-THE DESK (800-843-3375). 52 Vim & Vigor · SUM M ER 2 012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Summer 2012 - North Mississippi

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2012 - North Mississippi
Contents
Opening Thoughts
Big Gifts Come in Small Packages
A Voice of Experience
The Breakfast Club
Arthritis Answers
A TV Guide to Radiology
Take Aim
It Might NOT Be Cancer
Colin Firth
Step Up to the Plate
Life After Cancer
Get Dad to the Doc
Virtual Health
Point, Click, Discover
Ready to Serve
A Unique Kind of Doctor
Barbershop Talk
Catch the Spirit

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2012 - North Mississippi