The Highest Priority in the Emergency Department May Be a Patient’s Spiritual Needs

Ziel and Kautz share how Marguette General Hospital addressed the spiritual needs of a trauma patient named John, who was transferred with multiple injuries from fall. Ruth, the charge nurse, received a call from the hospital chaplain informing her that this patient was Catholic and had not been anointed before leaving the transferring facility and that the family was very concerned about this situation. When a priest arrived, Ruth took him to the trauma room, where John was being resuscitated by the team. Other members of the team moved so that the priest could join all the other specialists at the patient's bedside, and John was anointed in accordance with the family's wishes. The hospital chaplain was then able to convey this to the patient's family, who had not been able to accompany John to the hospital.