Blessings for the hands that heal at Huntsman Cancer Institute
SALT LAKE CITY — Rachel Magnusson has worked as an oncology nurse for 12 years, six of which she's spent in the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
"Oncology is a hard field. … And a lot of our patients are terminally ill, and so it can be very emotional, taxing. But at the same time, with that intensity of emotion comes, I think, a great capacity to bond and connect with people," she said.
Magnusson, who says the "intense connection" she forms with patients keeps her in the field, is one of more than 500 nurses who work at the hospital.
Many nurses, patients, family members and other staff members had their hands blessed by faith and spiritual leaders in the Huntsman Cancer Institute on Friday during the hospital's yearly Blessing of the Hands during National Nurses Week.
As musicians played peaceful woodwind background music, several nurses were teary-eyed as they went through lines and spoke with leaders from an array of faiths, including Catholic, Episcopalian, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Latter-day Saint and a Native American healer.
"You will see many tears here. You come into this thinking, you know, 'I don't have anything to cry about.' And then spiritual leaders may ask you a question or two about how difficult your job is, or the patients that you've lost," said Sue Childress, director of nursing at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
The institute sponsors the hand-blessing event every year as one of several ways it helps its nurses deal with compassion fatigue, something experienced by many people who give much of their time and energy to caring for others.
"They're dedicated to caring for patients and making sure that they're safe while they're getting their treatment here. They're compassionate, smart people, and we want to honor them with blessing their hands and recognizing the work that those hands do every day of the year here," Childress said.
Magnusson says compassion fatigue is a "real thing," experienced by people in her field as well as many other fields, including teaching.
Terresa Newport, a Presbyterian chaplain at the institute, explained how she blessed the hands of those who attended the event.
"We ask that the Divine come through hands as they're anywhere in the world," she said.
Fred Wenger, a Jewish rabbi, said he begins by asking people what they do and then tries "to find something spiritual to share about what the challenges of their job are.”
He then tells them about the "shortest healing prayer in the Bible," in Exodus when Moses says a healing prayer for his sister, Miriam.
"Dear God, heal her," Rabbi Wenger quoted.
"Ultimately, we simply pronounce blessings, but it's God who does the blessing," he explained.
The blessing of the hands gave Robin Roberts peace and inspiration.
"It's releasing," she said.
Roberts is a caregiver for her husband, a cancer patient. Friday was his last day at Huntsman Cancer Institute before he checked out of the hospital.
"I love all of them, what they all have to offer," she said of the spiritual leaders.
"Especially when you're a caregiver, when you have someone close to you like your husband, you have just a lot of emotions. And it's really reassuring to get the messages from them, because they're the messages that you know.”
She said the spiritual leaders gave her guidance to help her find peace, wisdom, inspiration and guidance.
After having her hands blessed, Magnusson said she spoke to the rabbi. Though she is not of his same faith, she "appreciated his thoughts and sincerity.”
Rachel with her niece when she worked at City of Hope in Duarte, California
What a great tradition!
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