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history, X-rays, and laboratory tests to discover the real condition of the pa tient. Should not the physician of souls be just as scientific and thor ough in his diagnosis and treatment of the diseases pf the soul? 2. Cooperate w i t h doctors and nurses. Seek the advice of the doctor or nurse about how you can be of most help to the patient. Discover from him or her as much as you can about the condition of the patient. Especially in cases of serious illness, a worker should never argue with the nurse if she refuses to allow him to see the patient. I f the visitor is asked by a doctor or nurse to leave the bed side of a patient, he should comply immediately and graciously, knowing that the request is made for some legitimate reason in the interest of the patient. A visitor should never take part in the treatment of the patient. If the doctor or nurse suggests something which you may do for the patient, you will be glad to help, but do not “smuggle” food or other items to the one who is ill. One of my patients was given a drink by a visitor the night'before surgery, and the patient nearly died on the operating table. It is advisable not* to discuss the doctor or his treatment with the pa tient. He is a specialist in medicine; you are a specialist in things of the spirit. I f the patient inquires about ‘ the nature of his illness or its prob able outcome, it is wise for the visitor to imitate the reticence of the nurse. 3. Discipline your emotions. A vis itor can change the whole emotional tone of a sick room by his own poise and confidence. I f the visitor shows surprise, alarm, or sorrow, the patient will become upset. A nervous visitor makes the patient nervous. Remem ber that poise begets tpoise. Keep your attitude and expressions sincere. It is important that the conversation be kept pleasant, but .it need not be filled with trite utterances t h a t are not wholly true. ' 4. Make your visit brief and help ful. Staying too long is a common sin of Christian workers and ministers. The visitor should take every precau tion to prevent fatigue. Short, fre quent visits accomplish more good as a rule than long ones. The chaplain rarely spends more than three to five minutes with a patient who is acutely ill or still suffering from the effects of surgery. Occasionally, the chap lain will spend ten or fifteen minutes with one whose condition will permit. I f the patient is convalescent and needs company or desires to talk about a particular matter, a longer visit may be permissible. If the patient is in bed, thg visitor should not sit down. Your standing [ Continued on Page 389]
tending to be a deaf-mute whenever any religious worker entered the room. Another patient was reported to have been “Converted” by three different groups on the same day! Patients should not be blarhed for taking extreme measures in order to free themselves from persons w h o ' thus intrude upon -their lives. Too often zealous religious workers fail to. realize that in hospitals—even in county or state institutions—a patient is paying for his bed, and that for the time being it is his home. For this reason he is entitled to privacy if he desires it." I f the medical insti tution fails to safeguard the patient’s privacy from overzealous religious visitors, the Christian worker should have enough courtesy and good man ners to refrain from pushing himself rudely into the patient’s domain with out being invited. Hardly can we ,imagine our Saviour bluntly forcing Himself upon a sick man. Can we who minister in the name of Christ be any less courteous or thoughtful? Hints for Fruitful Visitation 1. Understand sick people. One who never has been ill will find it dif- •ficult to understand the needs and dif ficulties of the sick room, but the visitor must understand the conditions of the sick room if he would avoid causing harm and be 6f help to the patient. The patient is a stranger in a strange land. In the hospital strange people wait on him. Orders are given without explanation; requests are made without his understanding. Ill ness is accompanied frequently by fear, loneliness, discouragement, and restlessness. The monotonous days bring boredom and the weary nights a thousand apprehensions. The stress of sickness brings about many changes in the patient; he becomes supersensi tive to noises, to ideas, to people. Christian workers can profit by ob serving the diagnostic technique of the doctor. The surgeon does not operate until he has made a thorough study of the patient’s case. Such an exami nation might include interviews, case
Lord Jesus Christ. While the follow ing statement may seem to be harsh, i f must be emphasized: Those work ers who are not so qualified by per sonality, training, a n d experience, should be denied access to the sick room. Recently two Christian workers con tacted the writer to get a pass to visit patients in the Los Angeles General Hospital. They stated that the Lord had laid it upon their hearts to do personal work there. Undoubtedly they were earnest, but their whole at titude disqualified them for the work they wanted to do. Their request was refused, because we believe a medical institution is not a: rescue mission, i There are patients in hospitals who need to receive Christ as Saviour and Lord, and we are happy to say that many do receive Him there. But a sick room ministry includes much more thgn getting decisions from pa tients and reporting to some group or organization that so many were con verted through one’s efforts. A deci sion for Christ, if it is a genuine ex perience of regeneration, is only the first step in the new life in Christ. The hospital worker must be able not only to prepare for that step and to lead the individual into it, but also to aid him in subsequent experiences of his spiritual development. No novice can do this effectively. Courtesy To Be Shown A passion for the souls1of men should be the possession of every be liever. We should desire to see men and women bom again—whether they are rich or poor, educated or igno rant, well or ill. At the same time it must be pointed out that zeal divorced from knowledge and common sense can do much harm in a sick room. A t the hospital with which I am affiliated, each patient is assigned to a chaplain or religious group for spir itual care; yet workers from various other groups and •cults persistently contact these patients to try to win them to their particular faith. One patient, after being consigned to hell several times by members of such groups, protected herself by pre
"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if. there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” — Philippians 4:8.
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