Weekly devotion: Caring for the whole person
Harpur Memorial Hospital, Egypt
A practical training session at Harpur Memorial Hospital. Image credit: David Uttley, Compelling Story
This week we’re praying for the nurse training programme we support at Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf, Egypt. Nurse training in Egypt is largely informal, so the hospital has set up its own nursing school to ensure professional standards and excellent patient care.
The two-year training programme is a combination of clinical, classroom and lab instruction based on current evidence-based practice. It started in 2017 and the second cohort graduated in June 2021. The programme will enable the hospital to provide quality care for more patients.
Prior to this important initiative, nurses at the hospital were trained on the job and did not receive any formal nursing education – resulting in inefficient and ineffective care, with the risk of leading to botched procedures and severe complications. In contrast, the training programme teaches nurses about holistic patient care. Many of the doctors are overworked and see multiple patients per day, leaving them with little time to truly engage with patients. From day one, the nurses are encouraged to include the patient in their own healthcare and give them the power to change their own lives.
Bible reading
‘Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralysed; and he healed them.’
Matthew 4:23-24
Thought
The trainee nurses at Harpur Memorial Hospital are taught to see patients as people and prioritise holistic care. This is a beautiful reflection of the heart of Jesus. In Jesus’ ministry on this earth, his actions always emphasised the importance of meeting the needs of the whole person. In these Bible verses, notice how Jesus’ spiritual teaching was accompanied by meeting deep physical needs too. Elsewhere, Jesus also responds to emotional and social needs – all of which we must meet when caring for our neighbours.
Ask yourself: Think about the people in your life. Reflecting on Jesus’ example, how can you love them better?
Prayer
Healing God,
We remember today that you are the Great Physician. You are intimately acquainted with our deepest heart-needs and we thank you that we can find joy, forgiveness and fulfillment in your love.
We pray for your rich blessing on the nurse training programme at Harpur Memorial Hospital and that the patients there would heal and thrive.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
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