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Faith in Action for May 6

Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center

Celebrating Nightingale’s health care legacy

Avera Marshall Health Care ministries will be celebrating the 2016 National Health Care Week from May 8 to 14 as they focus anew on their Mission values of hospitality, stewardship and compassion. Historically, May 12 was chosen to celebrate the day as it is the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, who is widely considered the founder of modern nursing in health care centers globally.

Since Avera Marshall Health Care ministries, consisting of its hospital, nursing home, Avera Cancer Institute, Avera Hospice and Palliative Care, Avera @Home & Clinic, is a faith based health care system sponsored by the Benedictine Sisters and Presentation Sisters, it honors and respects the role that spirituality performs on the road to healing and wellness of the body, mind and spirit of the individual.

For Florence Nightingale’s spirituality played a major role in providing holistic health care in the past, present, and future health care environments. Florence was baptized a Christian in the Anglican faith tradition and during her youth attended both Anglican and Methodist worship services. During her late teenage years, she perceived a “call to service” For her formal formational training, she entered the Lutheran deaconate for women in their institution at Kaiserswerth, near Dusseldorf, Germany in 1851.

Florence understood her call to service as one to “save lives” by nursing the sick certainly, but also being concerned by providing holistic health care; she promoted social and hygienic hospital unit reforms, and the importance that each member of medical care team plays in providing truly holistic health care practices to treat the whole person. Her contributions to nursing theory, research, statistics, public health and health care reforms continue to be invaluable and inspirational.

Nightingale referred to her health care work as her “must.” Thus, regardless of what department Avera health care workers are performing in; they too need to regard their own “call to service” as a “must.” For each day, we have an opportunity like Florence Nightingale to touch the lives of others with the gift of holistic healing.

We are to view our performance as a “must” in our services within the Avera Health Care System, whether it be in anesthesiology, accounting, behavioral health, bookkeeping, Cancer Institute, cardiac rehab, dialysis, dietary, family medicine, finance, housekeeping, kitchen, imaging, maintenance, OB Department, pharmacy, pastoral care, PT, administration and host of other medical health care services.

As we celebrate and observe the 2016 Hospital and Nursing Home Health Care, it is my prayer that we health care ministers within the Avera Marshall Heath, we will have a part of Nightingale’s wisdom residing within each of us. As we focus anew on our mission values of hospitality, stewardship and compassion, I imagine hearing her voice as she tells each of us to identify our “must” by providing a listening ear, our compassionate presence, or our technical and professional skills. She would remind us that our words, actions and prayers do make a difference in other’s lives. Quoting one of her favorite spiritual mentor’s, St. Francis of Assisi, to us: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.”

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