In The Hospital

The Christmas break provides seminarians with some time away from the seminary to do many things. Taking a step away from the routine and rituals of the Seminary allows some seminarians to return to their local communities – to be nourished and strengthened and to also contribute as well.

Over the past number of years, I have had the privilege of working as a social worker at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip. (You can read more about the hospital by clicking on the link.).  Before coming to the Seminary, I would work as an “on-call” social worker during vacations from school (Christmas Recess, Winter Recess, summer, etc.). Since coming to the Seminary, I’m not able to be as present as I once was, but can still contribute during these extended times off.

Hospital social work is, at the same time, both challenging and exhilarating.   It is challenging because you are handling some of the most difficult issues of a patient’s life – his or her social issues. In a “typical” day, a hospital social worker may assist a family with placing a loved one in a nursing home, advocating for a patient without insurance, sitting with a family at the bedside of one who is dying, seeking services for someone with insurance, counseling someone with an alcohol or drug issue, providing emotional support to a grieving family, among many other issues.  Unfortunately, there aren’t always a lot of victories and there are times – even when you only work a few times a year -when you see some of the same people again and again, managing some of the same issues and problems.

It is exhilarating because, in some way, you seek to make a concrete difference in the life of another.  For the challenges listed above, each day usually brings a glimmer of hope. In the position of social worker you can sometimes help someone get to the “next step” or find resources for them they never knew about before or advocate for a person in light of some injustice. It may not be bringing closure to a long standing issue, but it might be listening to someone who hasn’t felt they’ve been listened to, it might be helping someone to see the potential within, or it might even be doing something to bring a smile to someone’s face who hasn’t found a reason to smile in a long time.    While it is not pastoral work in the same sense as hospital chaplaincy, it is pastoral in many, many ways.

It is also exhilarating because of who I am able to work with.  When studying in Social Work, I interned at Good Samaritan Hospital and many of the people who helped to train me as a social worker a few years ago are still present to support and encourage me – not only as a social worker, or a seminarian (which they’re excited about!), but as a person who is constantly seeking to answer God’s call in his life.  Again, as I ended last week, how blessed am I!