Oh Mercy Me!

When I served as a pastor in Newton, I got to know a lot of the hospitals in the region. I spent a lot of time at Newton and Grinnell's hospital. I spent time at the Veteran's hospitals in Marshalltown and Des Moines. And I often came to Des Moines to visit folks at Methodist, Mercy and Lutheran. And for the little people, I would go visit them at Blank Children's Hospital. My favorite hospital to visit as a pastor, by far, was Mercy Hospital.

As a pastor, I always appreciated how the staff and doctors at Mercy treated me as part of the team. When I would visit the other hospitals I was seen as an interruption. I actually had an identification badge at Mercy. (Which was also used to get a discount in the cafeteria. Even if I was doing visitation at one of the other hospitals, I would usually head over to Mercy at meal time.)

At Mercy Hospital I was always invited to pray with my parishioners. It was actually an expectation. At Methodist I always had an invitation... to leave.

When my wife was doing clinical rotations for her RN classes she did clinical rotations at all the Des Moines hospitals (and Broadlawns) mentioned above except Mercy.  And she assured me they are good hospitals. They just have high standards. (She's quite the joker sometimes.)

In a few days I will be experiencing my first day of college class... from the front of the class. I am still learning the material. I will be learning the whole semester.

But one thing I am at peace about is my passion for the subject. And I am looking forward to being able to sharing my passion with college students at Mercy college! And I am also looking forward to getting a Mercy Hospital badge again. (Discounted coffee is always the best coffee!) 


In case you are interested, here are the details of the class from the Mercy College of Health Sciences Course Descriptions:    

PHI 280 Caring in a Diverse Health Care Environment (3 cr)

This course facilitates an integration of personal and professional values that form the foundation for a philosophy of care giving, and prepares students for the realities and challenges of care giving in their health care profession. The course examines dimensions of self-care to enhance preparation for a career in a health care profession. It explores the holistic care of others including vulnerable and culturally diverse patients, with a focus on suffering, faith, hope, healing, and death and dying. Students will also take part in a service learning project where they will have the opportunity to both serve and learn from a vulnerable or diverse group.

 I look forward to updating you on how the class goes... it should be real. And it should be fun. Here's believing it is going to be real fun!

Another thing that made me smile is the fact that I was invited to the all-campus prayer meetings on Tuesdays at noon! Wouldn't it be cool if revival broke out?!?! One thing's for sure, I will be saying lots of prayers for my students! If you wouldn't mind... would you offer some prayer for all of us? Thanks!