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Iearwng resource CEN10 BETHEL COLLEGE 39Q0 Bethel Drive St. Paul, Minnesota 55112 CLARION 30 October 1987 ■ Bethel College St. Paul, Minnesota Bethel grad finds dignity at hospice by Sarah Cole A few weeks ago, a nurse asked a social worker to help move a patient, "Mary," in her bed. Mary was rather skinny and kind of groggy. She resembled a bloated baby. Mary's daughter and grandson stood aside and watched Mary as she was scooted further up on the bed, pillows propped up behind her back. She was very weak, but still alert. She wasn't dying quickly, just slowly deteriorating. Mary has cancer and is one of ten terminally ill patients on the hospice unit at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul. Paula Miller, a 1987 Bethel graduate, is that social worker and works mostly with cancer patients. "What we see, more often than not, is that they get weaker and weaker and more tired and the world gets smaller and they just slip away. I would say that it happens that way 99 percent of the time," she said. "We have a lot of Christian patients and just like any other Christian they don't have it all together—especially when it comes to death." She attributes that to her observation that most churches don't deal directly with death. Miller said that a hospice isn't so much a place to die as it is a concept of care which revolves around the idea that since there is no longer a successful treatment available, patients want to experience a quality of life before they die. "Just because they are sick and dying doesn't mean life has to stop," said Miller. Hospice care is a very personal, "hands-on" type of care and is still relevant today although jobs are fast- paced and health care has changed so much, she said. "It brings back dignity and humanity to what oftentimes health care has distorted. They try to prolong and prolong. Hospice care brings the dying process back to the basics—the simplicity of how people used to die," Miller said. "It's not hard to die," she said. "What is hard is to live until you die." Miller explained that while it is hard for patients to live physically, it's simple because it comes down to their basic needs, desires and wants. "We tell them to live day to day because that is the only way they can live. We don't know how they're going to be tomorrow. They may get better or they may get worse." Yet, Miller said, patients often quit living. Miller has respect for those who have the will to live fully until the last minute—the will to live a life of quality the best they can. "The people who do that have it right with God. They're okay. They aren't running. They know they are dying and that's not going to stop them." Miller said that there are never going to be perfect patients or families and each individual in the family deals with death in a different way. She finds that the patients deal with death peacefully and, in the long run, the family does too. Miller tells families that while patients are alert and responsive, each individual needs to "do the things they need to do" because there will be a day when the loved one isn't that way and they don't want to wait until then. "It's a process and as they start to do that they start to let go," she said. Families are encouraged to take out photo albums and reminisce and review the good and bad times in life. Miller said that she sees pictures of patients when they were "in their prime" a$id how beautiful they were, but she didn t know them then and thinks they are beautiful the way they are. Why do patients elect to come to a hospice unit for care instead of at home? "Some people don't have a family," Miller explained. "Some families are scared. They've never experienced death and don't know how to deal with it. Some want the security of knowing that there won't be much pain and some don't want the memory of a death occuring at home." Being on a hospice unit, Miller said, is like being a birthing coach because it is helping people go through a new experience with pride and dignity—helping them Extra room years away Community Relations Center as illustrated in a promotional pamphlet by Kenneth Wiering Bethel is cramped for space. At peak periods, classes are forced to use studios and conference rooms while up to four part-time faculty share one office. Lounge space has dissappeared to make place for administrative offices while student groups are squeezed into small rooms. Two growing departments are also asking for more space and lunch-hour traffic still crowds Market Square. The situation has made the college desperate for another building. However, financial planning shows that Bethel will not break ground for at least another two years for the new Community Relations Center (CRC). Proposed provisions of the CRC includea 2000-seat auditorium, a theatre, galler ies, classrooms, offices, and a conference center. But according to Director of Design and Planning and chair of the CRC Project Development Committee, David Lissner, Bethel may only have a section of the building by 1991. "In all likelihood, budget constraints will be such that make it go up in sections," said Lissner. And according to the committee's report to the Regents, "it is almost a certainty that the proceeds of the present capital funds come out of it at some point knowing they have grown and that the experience was worthwhile. "The reward is knowing that in my own spiritual life and my own belief system that death is a positive experience and that it's simply a rebirth." But Miller and the hospice staff don't get "warm fuzzies" from it. "One of the hardest things is being gone on a Friday and coming back Monday and having five or six patients who you were close to die over the weekend," she said. Miller said that in working with and caring for patients she becomes attached to them. "Ifyou totally detach yourself from those people you become inhuman and you don't want that." After a patient dies, Miller goes into the room, stands alone beside the corpse and sings a song. "I find myself singing, "There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit in this Place" because I know what the family and patient went through and it's finally over and they're peaceful." Like most students at Bethel, Miller was busy preparing for a career. At the "height of everything," she didn't think much about death. Then nursing student Lynn Hummel died in a car accident. It was then, while Miller was doing her intern- See Hospice, page 2 campaign cannot support a construction project larger than that single item." "It's tough, it's tough," said Dale Rott, member of the CRC committee. "The program to raise money for this project is behind schedule and Bethel just does not have the capacity to hold a building costing more than the existing buildings." said Rott. The CRC committee in cooperation with Bernard Herman Architects Inc. will prioritize the space needs at Bethel. Lissner said the analysis should be finished by Christmas and ready to present to the Regents. "And they may defer the chapel for classroom space if the fundraising cannot meet the monetary demands. It would be a plus to have the auditorium up for income generating events like the Festival of Christmas," Lissner said. Tricia Brownlee, who is responsible for assigning faculty offices and also serves as a member of the committee had another concern. "There definitely will be a problem with office space next year." Office space for faculty has been manageable this year since several professors resigned or retired. However, Bethel plans to hire 12 new faculty for fall of 1988. "We definitely do not have the space," said Brownlee. "I guess it will be my responsibility to find space for the extra faculty, but there should be an emphasis on classrooms more than anything else." On the average, well over 90 percent of See Space, page 2
Object Description
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Alternative Title | The Bethel Clarion |
Edition (Vol. No.) | Vol. 63 No. 05 |
Date Published | October 30 1987 |
Decade | 1980 |
Academic Year | 1987 - 1988 |
Frequency | Biweekly |
Notes | This project has been financed in part with funds provided by the State of Minnesota through the Minnesota Historical Society from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. |
Digital Collection | The Clarion: Bethel University's Student Newspaper |
Digital Publisher | Bethel University |
Editor | France, Douglas C. |
Contributors | Sanchez, Victor (Design Consultant); Wiering, Ken (News Editor); Stocking, Tracy (Feature Editor); Wenzel, Holly (Copy Editor); France, Douglas C. (Op-Ed Editor, Arts Editor); Moore, Marvin (Sports Editor); Wessman, George (Photo Editor); Larimer, Kayne (Ad Sales); Twogood, Ryan (Business Manager); Lee, Lori (Layout & Design); Osmundson, Lisa (Layout & Design) |
Location |
United States Minnesota Saint Paul |
Time Span of Publication | Newspaper published from 1921 through present day |
Copyright | Reproduction or distribution of these files is permitted for educational and research purposes with proper attribution to the Bethel Digital Library. No commercial reproduction or distribution of these files is permitted under copyright law without the written permission of Bethel University Digital Library. For questions or further information on this collection, contact digital-library@bethel.edu. |
Type | text |
Format | image/jpeg |
Physical Dimensions | 11.5 x 17 |
Original Collection | Printed paper copies of original newspaper in the collections of the Bethel University Library and the History Center: Archives of the Baptist General Conference and Bethel University. |
Original Publisher | Bethel College |
Transcript | Iearwng resource CEN10 BETHEL COLLEGE 39Q0 Bethel Drive St. Paul, Minnesota 55112 CLARION 30 October 1987 ■ Bethel College St. Paul, Minnesota Bethel grad finds dignity at hospice by Sarah Cole A few weeks ago, a nurse asked a social worker to help move a patient, "Mary," in her bed. Mary was rather skinny and kind of groggy. She resembled a bloated baby. Mary's daughter and grandson stood aside and watched Mary as she was scooted further up on the bed, pillows propped up behind her back. She was very weak, but still alert. She wasn't dying quickly, just slowly deteriorating. Mary has cancer and is one of ten terminally ill patients on the hospice unit at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul. Paula Miller, a 1987 Bethel graduate, is that social worker and works mostly with cancer patients. "What we see, more often than not, is that they get weaker and weaker and more tired and the world gets smaller and they just slip away. I would say that it happens that way 99 percent of the time," she said. "We have a lot of Christian patients and just like any other Christian they don't have it all together—especially when it comes to death." She attributes that to her observation that most churches don't deal directly with death. Miller said that a hospice isn't so much a place to die as it is a concept of care which revolves around the idea that since there is no longer a successful treatment available, patients want to experience a quality of life before they die. "Just because they are sick and dying doesn't mean life has to stop," said Miller. Hospice care is a very personal, "hands-on" type of care and is still relevant today although jobs are fast- paced and health care has changed so much, she said. "It brings back dignity and humanity to what oftentimes health care has distorted. They try to prolong and prolong. Hospice care brings the dying process back to the basics—the simplicity of how people used to die," Miller said. "It's not hard to die," she said. "What is hard is to live until you die." Miller explained that while it is hard for patients to live physically, it's simple because it comes down to their basic needs, desires and wants. "We tell them to live day to day because that is the only way they can live. We don't know how they're going to be tomorrow. They may get better or they may get worse." Yet, Miller said, patients often quit living. Miller has respect for those who have the will to live fully until the last minute—the will to live a life of quality the best they can. "The people who do that have it right with God. They're okay. They aren't running. They know they are dying and that's not going to stop them." Miller said that there are never going to be perfect patients or families and each individual in the family deals with death in a different way. She finds that the patients deal with death peacefully and, in the long run, the family does too. Miller tells families that while patients are alert and responsive, each individual needs to "do the things they need to do" because there will be a day when the loved one isn't that way and they don't want to wait until then. "It's a process and as they start to do that they start to let go," she said. Families are encouraged to take out photo albums and reminisce and review the good and bad times in life. Miller said that she sees pictures of patients when they were "in their prime" a$id how beautiful they were, but she didn t know them then and thinks they are beautiful the way they are. Why do patients elect to come to a hospice unit for care instead of at home? "Some people don't have a family," Miller explained. "Some families are scared. They've never experienced death and don't know how to deal with it. Some want the security of knowing that there won't be much pain and some don't want the memory of a death occuring at home." Being on a hospice unit, Miller said, is like being a birthing coach because it is helping people go through a new experience with pride and dignity—helping them Extra room years away Community Relations Center as illustrated in a promotional pamphlet by Kenneth Wiering Bethel is cramped for space. At peak periods, classes are forced to use studios and conference rooms while up to four part-time faculty share one office. Lounge space has dissappeared to make place for administrative offices while student groups are squeezed into small rooms. Two growing departments are also asking for more space and lunch-hour traffic still crowds Market Square. The situation has made the college desperate for another building. However, financial planning shows that Bethel will not break ground for at least another two years for the new Community Relations Center (CRC). Proposed provisions of the CRC includea 2000-seat auditorium, a theatre, galler ies, classrooms, offices, and a conference center. But according to Director of Design and Planning and chair of the CRC Project Development Committee, David Lissner, Bethel may only have a section of the building by 1991. "In all likelihood, budget constraints will be such that make it go up in sections," said Lissner. And according to the committee's report to the Regents, "it is almost a certainty that the proceeds of the present capital funds come out of it at some point knowing they have grown and that the experience was worthwhile. "The reward is knowing that in my own spiritual life and my own belief system that death is a positive experience and that it's simply a rebirth." But Miller and the hospice staff don't get "warm fuzzies" from it. "One of the hardest things is being gone on a Friday and coming back Monday and having five or six patients who you were close to die over the weekend," she said. Miller said that in working with and caring for patients she becomes attached to them. "Ifyou totally detach yourself from those people you become inhuman and you don't want that." After a patient dies, Miller goes into the room, stands alone beside the corpse and sings a song. "I find myself singing, "There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit in this Place" because I know what the family and patient went through and it's finally over and they're peaceful." Like most students at Bethel, Miller was busy preparing for a career. At the "height of everything," she didn't think much about death. Then nursing student Lynn Hummel died in a car accident. It was then, while Miller was doing her intern- See Hospice, page 2 campaign cannot support a construction project larger than that single item." "It's tough, it's tough," said Dale Rott, member of the CRC committee. "The program to raise money for this project is behind schedule and Bethel just does not have the capacity to hold a building costing more than the existing buildings." said Rott. The CRC committee in cooperation with Bernard Herman Architects Inc. will prioritize the space needs at Bethel. Lissner said the analysis should be finished by Christmas and ready to present to the Regents. "And they may defer the chapel for classroom space if the fundraising cannot meet the monetary demands. It would be a plus to have the auditorium up for income generating events like the Festival of Christmas," Lissner said. Tricia Brownlee, who is responsible for assigning faculty offices and also serves as a member of the committee had another concern. "There definitely will be a problem with office space next year." Office space for faculty has been manageable this year since several professors resigned or retired. However, Bethel plans to hire 12 new faculty for fall of 1988. "We definitely do not have the space," said Brownlee. "I guess it will be my responsibility to find space for the extra faculty, but there should be an emphasis on classrooms more than anything else." On the average, well over 90 percent of See Space, page 2 |
Language | English |
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