The impact of professional healthcare chaplains on patients' recovery nature in Jengre Seventh-day Adventist Hospital, Nigeria

Abstract

Spiritual care and health work are twins, as far as the missionary work is concerned with the Seventh-day Adventist Church in northern Nigeria. The hospital in Jengre is known far and near as a result of the work of the western missionary J. J. Hyde and his wife who was a nurse. The hospital has at some point in time, been the major health facility for the people around the community. Spiritual work and healthcare have been carried along, side by side. With the advancement of healthcare, there is a need for professional spiritual care giving in the hospital. In Jengre SDA Hospital, the work of the spiritual caregiver known as a chaplain, has been reduced to that of prayer and devotion thereby, making it just a “fill in the gap” ministry. There is no institutionalized chaplaincy, all aspects of care, have been left to the proficiency of the medical personnel. There is the need to measure the impact, professional health care Chaplains play in whole-person care and the recovery of patients in the hospital.To arrive at the findings of the research, a range of literature on professional healthcare chaplaincy was consulted which gave rise to the qualitative approach in the research. An experiment was carried out over four months with a research population of 50 patients whose diagnosis turned out in the majority, to be organ-related ailments. The literature gathered provided a range of views and understanding about the professional practice of healthcare chaplaincy, its origin, development, and achievement over the years. The experiment was possible because ten volunteers were trained with professional knowledge of healthcare chaplaincy to help in the experimental procedures. Five were selected after a month’s training out of the ten who showed good qualities of a chaplain. These were selected for the major work as volunteer Chaplains in the experiment process. For four months, the trained volunteers worked with different patients who were grouped randomly into two, classified as (group X1), treatment group, and (group X2) control group. Data were collected through two types of scorecards which have fifteen items on each, to guide the volunteers. The chaplains assessed the patients in both groups from the volunteer chaplain’s score care card, as well as the patients’ response to the services of the chaplains on the patients’ response card. This provides the researcher with a tool for effective data gathering, and a simple percentage data finding with a yes, or no, as a response to each item on the scorecard. After the training of the volunteers that lasted for six weeks helping them to acquire basic healthcare chaplaincy skills for bedside ministry, the volunteer chaplains went into work with the two groups X1 (treatment group), and X2 (control group). One of the groups X1(treatment) was provided with adequate spiritual care from the volunteers, while group X2(control), was provided with, medical care alone.At the end of the study after four months, the study shows that patients who were cared for, both by the trained chaplains, and medical personnel, recover faster than those in group X2 who were cared for by the medical personnel alone. This further shows that professional healthcare chaplains play a vital role in the recovery nature of patients in Jengre SDA Hospital. It is important to provide a holistic approach to healthcare in Jengre SDA Hospital. There are occasions where doctors cannot effectively administer a treatment that will yield results as some phenomenon health challenges, may defy medical knowledge and experiment. The need for a trained or professional spiritual caregiver (chaplain) in the hospital is urgent and important, to provide whole-person care to patients in the hospital. The care of the mind and the spirit, go a long way in helping in emotional, and physical recovery.