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More than a Knife; Surgery and Spirituality by Debra Classen
Several years ago Time Magazine's front page article was entitled"The Biology of Belief". This has become an increasing topic of interest and study, particularly as it pertains to health care. As we push God out of the schools, government, the media and reconciliation since the divorce. The old saying, "There are no atheists in a fox hole" may be why, when laying in a hospital bed, people call on God again. We pray for peace, people flock to yoga (and I believe this has become the new church for many), and we pray for serenity and wealth (or at least to pay the bills). But, as Klueger states in the Times article, ":there is nothing we pray — or chant or meditate — for more than health. Health,by definition, is the sine qua non of everything else. If you're dead,serenity is academic. So we convince ourselves that while our medicine is strong and our doctors are wise, our prayers may heal us too. Here's what's surprising: a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that faith may indeed bring us health." *
When I first met Bridget, what struck me was her presence. A petite Californian woman, she is blond, outdoorsy, in shape, natural looking. I met her in the hallway of a hospital in a large group of people. It is the rare person, particularly in these days of ADD social networking,that has the ability to become completely present to the moment and the person in front of them. My spiritual mentor, Father Robert Mc Creary, is perhaps the only other person I have met with this gift. Both Father Mc Creary and Dr. Duffy are two well known professional people and two of the busiest people I know, but you would never know or sense this when you encounter either of them. I think presence is a gift of faith and it is one of the most affirming and healing gifts I have encountered.
Dr. Bridget Duffy's passion for defining and creating a healing environment is her life work and it is work she is well suited to. As our nation continues to struggle and debate over the financing and overall reform of our health care system, Duffy is working inside the system to improve the patient experience by educating and health care leaders that health care is more than the clinical diagnosis and treatment of the body and involves the human experience, the whole experience, not only for the patient but for the family and health care providers.
Duffy's twenty year career is remarkable. She moves into virgin territory as she approaches world renown clinically skilled surgeons,and works spirituality and emotional healing into their clinical and professional training. She opens a window to a side and realm of their human experience, that is not easily accessible either professionally or personally to most surgeons. They begin to "see" differently, not only their patients and the hospital experience, but themselves as true 'healers' in every sense of the word. At the Cleveland Clinic , where she recently served as Chief Experience Officer of the Cleveland Clinic ("the first senior position of its kind in the nation"), Duffy shares that many of the surgeons never meet or speak to their patients, they are merely "the knife" that cuts out the tumor or the diseased organ. Yet, Duffy explains, "there was one surgeon that would gather his "team " around the operating table before the anesthetic was given to the patient and each member of the team introduced themselves and their job to the patient before the surgery. His results were remarkable."
Duffy was summoned from the West Coast to Cleveland because, despite a world class reputation in the operating room, the Clinic's rating approval for patient's experience didn't reflect the same high standards. She came to the Clinic and began talking, not just to the doctors, but to every person in the building. She sees each person in the hospital as a part of the healing that real families come to the Clinic for. She shares the story of an executive who went to NASA during the 70s when NASA was building rockets and space ships to launch man into outer space. The executive asked the janitor what his job was at NASA?. The janitor proudly replied, "I am helping to put the first man on the moon." She tells the story for a reason--her job is to encourage every hospital employee to see themselves as part of the healing process.
How do we best do that for any person in our life? We do it by our presence, We each have the gift of our life and the presence of this moment to offer each person we come into contact with. Duffy currently advises health care organizations of all types sharing strategic and operational changes that are required to make changes within the health care system, but more importantly she moves beyond the structural operational changes to "be the change" of spiritual and emotional healing to patients and their families by teaching all within the hospital system to become present to each patient.
Her transformation operation comes from the richness of her physician/father's mentoring when she was a young child. At the end of each day, she watched her father telephone his patients to inquire how they were doing. She also had several other inspirational mentors, Dr.Baum whose entire hospital staff prayed for healing of the patients. Her own years of clinical and patient experience give her invaluable insights as a physician, and her trips to India where there is a sense of team among caregivers, and where the relationship with patient spirituality is honored. She sees spirituality as a natural part of the healing experience. And then there is her unspoken faith, compassion, and presence. I quote one of my favorite quotes by St. Francis of Assisi , "Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use words."
Duffy begins with three core lessons: "(1.)all patients are not created equal, (2.) patient's experiences begin before they arrive and end long after they leave and (3.) every employee is a caregiver, and their level of engagement and empowerment can make or break the patient experience."* Believing and instrumenting that as health care givers begin to look at the world "from the patients' perspective , the focus become softer and gentler through the eyes of love. Yes, healing is the art and science coming together in wholeness (mind, body and spirit) rather than targeting (and focusing) the sick parts of the body."* The Patient is not just a disease, the surgeon is not just a knife, the family member is not just a caretaker. "It is through this perspective that employment in the health care system moves to engagement with the person. The physician/person engagement is a joint commission in the patient's healing. Twenty percent of all healing is linked to medical skill, eighty percent of healing is the interaction, relationships and spirituality that exists between people.This makes the ideal human experience the healing experience."*
Communication impacts healing. It is the breakdown in communication which leads to a cancer growth of a different kind, the dis-ease of relationships. A breakdown in communication at critical transition periods in the hospital stay can lead to complications." How true this is not only for the hospital stay, but our well being in work/family/intimacy/spiritual relationships. The human experience is, at its core, communication. The dignity and respect for another human being. When a patient (person) receives this at its most basic level, transformation takes place. It was Mother Teresa's calling card for the poorest of the poor. She communicated dignity and respect to the impoverished and dying on the streets of the Calcutta. She was able to see the beauty of the human being, and offer the gift of love and presence.
We cannot ignore the practical implications of financing health care, the political implications in the American health care system, or the education and training of our doctors and nurses.And yes, a treatment plan getting from point A to point B is vital. For example the Cleveland Clinic is a City within our City and chaos would ensue without management, CEO's, and all the day to day intricacies of running a giant cooperation. But compassion is more than getting from point A to point B, compassion moves in a circle embracing the pain and fear people face when confronted with life threatening issues of their own, or loved ones.
As our society continues to amputate the unnecessary to become cost effective, and use technology instead of the human presence to become time effective, we must not forget it is our life presence, the gift from God of another day on earth, the gift of love, the gift of listening and empathy, the prayers for the sick and the dying, that ultimately lead to healing. A hospital should be a house of healing. Our world is a world of healing, we are all in need of healing from something. It is the presence and prayers of others that ultimately heal.
Footnotes:
*Jeffrey Kluger, "The Biology of Belief," Time Magazine (February 2009), see cover story.
*B. Duffy, M.D.'s "Experience Matters,"
*Dr. Bridge Duffy, Presenter, You're More Than A Knife: The Human Experience, ACOS, San Francisco, California, October 2010.
NOTE: Photo of Dr. Roger Classen delivering gift basket to cancer patient - Christmas 2009.
NOTE: Photo of Dr. Roger Classen delivering gift basket to cancer patient - Christmas 2009.
Posted by Debra Classen at 11/7/2010 9:01 PM 
Categories: Debra Classen, Journal
Tags: spirituality health healing
Categories: Debra Classen, Journal
Tags: spirituality health healing
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