Health and Wholeness week

This week in college we have been doing what is called health and wholeness week. This is what has replaced chaplaincy week for anyone who can remember them. We started quite gently on Monday with an introduction to the week then a lecture from the chaplain at Kings College Hospital. He showed his commitment and love to the patients in the hospital through what he was saying to us.

Tuesday began with a talk from somebody who was a patient in a hospital for a considerable length of time because of a road traffic accident that he was involved with. I was ok until he started to describe his injuries and subsequent operations. I began to feel ill at this point because I was imagining the injuries. I was feeling so ill that I had to remove myself from the room! This was a shame because I missed the important bits. I didn't get to hear how he was pastorally cared for.

The session after that was better because it was about hospices and what our roles can be within these places.

Wednesday was a whole morning about disaster response. This was slightly strange because we didn't get to hear how we should respond. We were told about the process of grief, and how people can act when they are in shock, but not really told what our role would be should we be involved in disaster relief. Am I now prepared if a disaster should happen in my area? I don't know. I would hope that I would go into auto drive and help people through the time that way. This is something that I won't know unless it happens, and I hope that it doesn't.

Thursday we spent the day in St Georges Hospital. This was quite a good day. We were shown around by the chaplains there. They took us around a couple of the wards to see what happens, then it was lunch time. This was an experience for me and I'm so pleased we recently covered the sacraments and our stance on them because I was asked a question concerning this. After lunch was the moment I was dreading. We visited the mortuary. I found this quite reassuring most of the time although the description of a post mortem was slightly disturbing. The staff in there were really pleasant and made the visit easier for us.

This next week is a week off so I will be spending the time relaxing and studying for my next essay. The joys of training! Not long left now.