During Sean’s stay in hospital, his family visit regularly, despite living over 50 miles away.
Sean’s cardiac condition means that he requires to have an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) fitted. Please see the video below for information on this:
Due to his head injury, Sean is unable to understand the implications of living with an ICD and for his parents the fact that they have to take responsibility for this aspect of Sean’s care is an added stressor.
Staff on the neurorehabilitation ward recognise that the family are finding their situation difficult to cope with and that they might benefit from additional support. They suggest to the family that a visit from the hospital chaplain might provide them with this additional support. They family readily agree and the chaplain is contacted.
The hospital chaplain provides spiritual support in the hospital environment to patients, family members and hospital staff. (For further information on spiritual care in the NHS, please see Additional Information below.)
Sean’s parents find the chaplain very supportive and, in addition to meeting as a family unit, meet on a one-to-one basis with him to talk over their worries and concerns in relation to Sean’s future.
Pulse point
A project designed to generate evidence for the efficacy of specialist spiritual care in NHS Lothian found that patients” experiences of spiritual interventions were very positive.
