“The TEAM Approach in Healthcare” – there is always much hidden in a name – even in a name for a blog. I never have blogged before, but I hear it is much like journaling which I have done for years. The name of this blog seemed like an obvious choice since I work for The TEAM Approach* and lead their Healthcare Division*. However, as I consider what to do with this blog, I realize that there is much more here that meets the eye. I have spent over 30 years in healthcare as an RN, nurse practitioner, and manager. I also spent as many years as a teacher/facilitator in the field, always pulled to the subjects of self-care, holistic health, elder care and death and dying. Is it any wonder that my second graduate degree is in Holistic Spirituality and Spiritual Direction, which has been my passion and avocation for approximately 20 years? Although these all sounds like different interests, they really are the same.
Nursing was born from within religious orders and on the battlefields with persons dedicated to the spiritual life entering into difficult situations give care to the poor, sick, and war wounded. Florence Nightingale, founder of nursing, was a deeply spiritual seeker. Most people who go into healthcare do so for altruistic reasons, as well some practical ones. And there is no group for which I am more proud to be associated than those who know that they must show up on snow days, holidays, and in the midst of floods and tornadoes to care for those who cannot care for themselves. A wonderful profession, you say? Ah, yes but the rest of the story…
This same group of people suffers from the lack of care that they so lavishly give to others. Swinging shifts, doubling back, and working 12-hours or more plays havoc with the biorhythms of the human body and mind. I would like to compare the health of our healthcare workers with that of many other professionals. And then there is the stress to keep learning to keep up with the knowledge explosion, the mounting regulations in response to the growing threat of law suits, and the expectations of the insurance industry to be efficient with time and dollars. Since when can care, empathy, and healing become efficiently put on a budget and time schedule? There is obviously good reason and need for such efficiency. However, there seem to be more and more contradictions as we strive for quality of care with our scientific and efficient methods, and yet the little published recognition of the impact of the patient’s emotions, a healing environment, and interpersonal contact that is needed for healing to take place. We have taken quantum leaps in recognizing the need for awakening human consciousness and the interconnectedness of body, mind, and spirit through the works of Herbert Benson, Larry and Barbara Dossey, and more recently Eckhart Tolle to name only a few. This is where spirituality and health care meet in a very human way, beyond what has been well studied in American Medicine. The comatose ICU patient who shows biologic improvements to compassionate presence of another individual is indication that there is much our scientific efficiency is missing.
But this misunderstanding goes beyond just that of the patient. When the demand to care for others prevents someone from self-care, burnout occurs and teamwork suffers. Yes, in some ways there is no team stronger than the one pulling together in an emergency to save the life or meet the needs of others; yet all the emotional turmoil that results from these demands too often is taken out on each other, since it may not be taken out on patient or family. The business world understands that taking the sales force away for a motivational day or week is good business; our schools realize that teachers need several months off away from the demands of the students; even some clergy are granted sabbaticals to find themselves and their balance. Yet the health professions do not even consider such. Vacations are often limited to two weeks at a time while the rest of the staff works overtime to cover the vacancy. The staff is tired! Is there any wonder why so many nurses are not working within the profession and why the public has flocked to the complementary medical practitioners in spite of minimal research? My guess is that many if not most people are in search of care and healing for themselves rather than just a cure of their disease. But first, the healthcare industry needs to “heal thyself!”
What most bedside caregivers deeply know is that life, death, pain, joy, unpredictability, and loss of control are spiritual issues. The TEAM in healthcare needs to be put together around the holism of the patient and the caregiver, not around the cure of the disease. This would take a massive cultural shift which may have slowly begun. However, it is the care of the caregiver (family and healthcare worker) as well as healthcare’s growth in wisdom about what it means to be a spiritual being in a human body that would make the biggest impact in our healthcare in America today.
