CPE: an educational experience in so many ways
Now that CPE has come to an end, I can finally start to look back with an open mind.Ā Here are some statistics from my summer as a chaplain:
I completed over 300Ā patient visits and attempted roughly 80Ā other patient visits.Ā Ā
I attended to 26 traumas:Ā 9 falls, 7 stabs, 5 motor vehicle accidents, 3 gunshot wounds, 1 burn, 1 transfer, and 1 assault.Ā I also conducted 19Ā trauma follow up visits.
I responded to 36 rapid response teamĀ pages and 15Ā RRT follow-ups, 13 stroke alertsĀ and lots of stroke follow-ups, 9 spinal cord injuries, and 10 code blues.
I was privileged to attend 3 family meetings, 10 staff meetings, and 18 interdisciplinary rounds meetings. I also hosted 4 spirituality groupsĀ in the psych wards.
Reflecting back there are quite a few things I learned, some funny, some serious, but all important:
- Active code blue chest compressions are terrifying
- GSW (gunshot wound) is not alwaysĀ a death sentence
- People with tracheas can more than often talk
- But, freshly installed tracheas are really hardĀ to look at
- Comfort care is a nice way of sayingĀ āwe are going to watch you until you die, but youāll be comfortableā
- Sometimes showing, expressing, and sharing patient and family emotions can be more beneficial to building the relationship than trying to hide them. (IE - cry with them)
- What do we really mean byĀ āI have to be strongā? Itās almost more of a coverup or cop out so we donāt have to be vulnerable
- Never tell someone to calm down, and never play into theirĀ āwhat ifā scenarios, it will make things worse
- Medical staff needs pastoral care almost as much, or sometimes more than, patients
- Often, the encounters I walked out of thinking I did nothing, were the most fruitful and helpful to those who needed it
- Donāt assume everyone in the psych ward is crazy. Most of them. But not all of them
- Horrifying can also be accompanied by holy: I was welcomed into places of vulnerability, to sit with patients and support them through difficult times. I did not have to be there, I was not a nurse or doctor, patients could turn me away, but I wasnāt; I was welcomed in.
Thereās so much more that I learned during my time in CPE and Iām slowly working through processing and writing.Ā Thank you for all your support, love, wisdom, and guidance through this process.
(Photo of the visits I completed during my last overnight August 17-18th and last day shift on August 19th)












