Hospitals: A case for spirituality?

A hospital visit is a traumatic experience.

Imagine the famous Bollywood actor who walked into a hospital after midnight, knife stabs in his back. Clearly, regardless of gender, upbringing, or persona, there would be trauma.

Yet, often, the visit to the hospital leaves us more traumatised.

I don’t blame the hospital. They deal with life and death daily. They witness pain and suffering that you and I would shudder if experienced.

Becoming numb is one way to cope.

But there is an effect. On the patient. Of being dealt with as a number, not a person. Which is what sometimes makes hospital visits traumatic.

The desensitisation of the human experience. The matter-of-fact way in which you are often dealt with.

Isn’t the best doctor you know, one who is kind, patient and willing to listen? So, we find ourselves in a strange quandary!

A group of people who have no option but to desensitize themselves to the pain and suffering. A never-ending stream of patients looking for succor and empathy.

So, what is the answer?

At the risk of sounding controversial, one answer is spirituality.

What I am suggesting is not new. Hospitals traditionally were often run by religious organizations. Those managing it brought their spiritual beliefs to bear on the patient.

I would like to argue that the need to serve the patient in the name of God helped.

I am not suggesting that all hospitals should be taken over by a religious group. Neither am I saying that there are no kindred people in hospitals.

Instead, perhaps, we can make spirituality a cornerstone of the practice.

If you are concerned that spirituality conflicts with profit and growth, I think not. If fact, kindness and empathy will go a long way in improving the customer experience.

As any businessperson would vouch, an improved customer experience only improves growth and profit.

A case for spirituality in the hospital?   

PS: It is not my intent to rain on doctors. They are wonderful people who go beyond the call of duty to care for patients.

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