Chapter Eleven: The patient I will never forget

The Objective of this reflection is to engage creatively with the inner spiritual resilience that will help you understand the impact people’s story have on you and to realise the impact you have on them. 
The patient you ‘will never forget’ is an example of many significant encounters that touch our lives.
This reflection is about self-care that will recharge you, encourage you and teach you if you are prepared to acknowledge, in addition to competent chaplaincy practice, that there are also inadequacies behind a façade of hunky-doryness!

Format: divide into pairs for discussion, first person shares second person listens and then roles reverse.
Conclude with a plenary coming together.

Time: Allow 30 minutes

A.  In pairs, introduce your partner to ‘the patient you’ll never forget’. A brief story (no names) of why you have chosen that patient.

B.  How did visiting him/her make you feel?

C.  Speak about a potentially harmful development within your encounter.

D.  How did you establish boundaries between the chaplain and the patient maintaining openness without collapsing the professional boundaries into over-familiarity?

E.   How did the relationship impact on your personal thoughts and private life?

F.   How can you develop as a chaplaincy visitor following this encounter?