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Comforting presence: Hospital chaplain bears witness to people in crisis

  • January 27, 2023
  • Tracy Riggs
  • Featured, Latest News, Ministries, People
“Bearing witness to their pain and their circumstances is kind of an extension of one of the ministries of Christ,” says Suzanne Simmons, staff chaplain and chaplain educator at UAB Hospital.
Photo courtesy of Mandy Busby

Comforting presence: Hospital chaplain bears witness to people in crisis

Though many jobs are unpredictable, a hospital chaplain typically has no idea what he or she will encounter in the next few minutes or day-to-day.

Suzanne Simmons, staff chaplain and chaplain educator at UAB Hospital, loves how she gets to cross paths with people she would never come across otherwise — and how every interaction can be completely different.

“I enjoy the beauty of human relationships and what’s possible when we meet, … what’s possible in that moment,” she said. “We can learn about each other and how we can experience God in the moments we are relating with one another. I find it to be just a really beautiful experience. I get to do that every time I walk into a patient’s room.”

Being a chaplain has a lot of ups and downs. Simmons said the selfish part is that it’s very rewarding, energizing and fulfilling. However, it’s also difficult because most of the time the job involves encountering people in crisis.

Caring for the sick

“Bearing witness to their pain and their circumstances is kind of an extension of one of the ministries of Christ. While He was here on earth He cared for the sick and the dying and the people who are suffering. When I do that with other people, I feel connected to Christ,” Simmons said.

Simmons knows she can’t fix what her patients are dealing with. Many she only sees once. She can give a patient a blanket or a cup of water, but helping in ways beyond those practical needs involves being constantly in prayer.

“I have to be dependent on the Spirit to be present with that person before I get in the room, to be present with us in the moment I’m there and then to be present with the person after I leave,” Simmons revealed. “More often than not it’s the last time I’m going to interact with them, so [I have] to trust God is with them, that God goes with them.”

This ministry is extremely important no matter what’s going on in the world, but during the pandemic, hospital chaplains were vital. Visitors couldn’t come into the hospital. The opportunity to sit and be with people is a “very powerful human experience,” and that was especially true then, she recalled.

Sometimes moments are gut-wrenching.

Simmons remembers the first time she sat in the delivery room with a family who lost their baby. The family had no idea anything was wrong until the baby was born. Knowing there was nothing she could do to bring him back, Simmons sat with the family and listened.

“There aren’t any words for that. It was very early on in my time, in my training. I just remember having a very deep awareness of the fact that I had nothing — I felt like I had nothing to offer them,” she said. “I felt very inadequate for the task and really just felt helpless.

“But I just sat with them for a few minutes and listened to them talk about the name they chose for this little boy and why it was important to them and how beautiful he was. He was there in the room with us. I think just bearing witness to their grief and also the memory of their son was just a very powerful experience.”

Following a schedule

Though every moment varies, chaplains do have a schedule. When patients are admitted, they are asked if they want to see a chaplain while there. At the beginning of each shift, the chaplain checks this list and visits those patients. They then move through other units and check with the staff to see if they know of anyone in particular who needs support.

Chaplains also care for hospital staff members, from nurses and doctors to therapists and patient care technicians.

“We check on them and let them know we’re available if they need to talk about anything, if they need to process a loss or something personally going on,” she said. “That’s become exponentially important. It’s always been important, but it’s been more critical the last few years with the pandemic.”

Embracing roles  

Simmons went to Beeson Divinity School for her theological education before training to be a chaplain. One of her roles now is as an educator for UAB’s Clinical Pastoral Education program.

The training is a year long and includes both classes and clinicals where the future chaplains see patients. This training results in obtaining enough credits to meet the minimum required to be a board-certified chaplain.

As an educator and someone who has worked closely with patients, Simmons loves both roles.

“I feel very honored to be able to sit with people,” she said. “The way people entrust me with their stories, with the celebrations and with their sadness, with their questioning — their questioning God or their confusion — just being invited into that space with people and being able to hold that with them … it’s very memorable every time.”

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