DES MOINES, Iowa — In hospitals everywhere, Iowans are being cared for by unique teams.
Chaplains at UnityPoint are expanding their roles and meeting with patients and families outside of hospital rooms.
The role of a chaplain during this pandemic has shifted.
At UnityPoint, they say their chaplains are not just serving patients, but now they're also serving their staff members too.
Because of the coronavirus, UnityPoint nurses and doctors are seeing a different type of trauma than before.
"During this time there has been opportunity and need to pay a lot more attention to our team members," director of spiritual care at UnityPoint Eric Johnson said.
Johnson says staff are having to limit family members from seeing a patient, taking a toll on them and the patients family too.
"Interactions that stand out, I think, is sitting with families in the parking lot. These are times when we are in a quiet room together and now we might be walking on the sidewalk or sitting on the bench," Johnson said.
Patients are now adapting to isolation in their hospital rooms, while family members wait outside.
"As a family member with someone in the hospital, I know that I would be devastated if I couldn't see them. But, I also have hope that I won't bring anything into them that would make them even more sick," Alei Griffieon said.
As we begin the new normal of wearing face masks, Alei said "I'm so grateful for the nurses and the doctors and the chaplains and the techs and cleaning people that are doing so much. to show my gratitude I'm going to stay out here and keep them safe."
A chaplains role may have changed during the pandemic, but the caring spirit remains the same.
"Occasionally, it is the case that a family can't be here when their loved one is dying. But, we can be with patients on their behalf," Johnson said.
Now, I have talked with some people coming in and out of UnityPoint and they said they have seen chaplains outside of the hospital comforting people, but, they also want to get this message out that we are all in this together.
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