Mar
30
2020
By Anonymous (not verified)
Now more than ever, healthcare professionals and patients need to hear the message of Divine Mercy. To help spread this message to healthcare professionals and all those caring for the sick, injured, and dying in the face of the COVID-19 virus pandemic, Marie Romagnano, MSN, RN, founder of the Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy, an apostolate of the Marian Fathers, is releasing her book, Nursing with the Hands of Jesus: A Guide to Nurses for Divine Mercy (Marian Press), as a FREE digital flip book.
"Our hope is that we can spread the message of the spiritual care of the patient to every healthcare provider," said Marie, who notes that the book is in congruence with the Joint Commission guidelines and has received full authorization from the Catholic Church. "We want to take the initiative and be the leader in getting this information to every healthcare professional so they can not only be enriched spiritually, but so they can provide spiritual care for their patients, even if the patient doesn't know they're being spiritually cared for."
Providentially, the World Health Organization designated 2020 as the "Year of the Nurse and the Midwife." Pope Francis reminded the Church as much in a homily on Jan. 19, 2020. He said, "Nurses are the most numerous health workers, and midwives are perhaps the most noble of the professions. ... Let us pray for all of them, that they may do their precious work in the best possible way."
For Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy, an apostolate of the Marian Fathers in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, "the best way possible" demands professional formation that integrates the best of medical science with bio-medical ethics, pastoral care, Judeo-Christian Revelation, and Divine Mercy spirituality.
According to Marie, one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare professionals during this global pandemic is the lack of enough personal protective equipment. "As many healthcare professionals have become sick and quarantined as a result of being exposed to the virus, there's a tremendous shortage of not only nurses and doctors but also surgical masks and protective equipment, including ventilators. We are asking nurses and doctors to do an incredibly tough job - to go into hospital rooms with potentially life-threatening pathogens. So we are asking our Lord and Our Lady to intercede for them. We all need to ask for the grace of protection for all healthcare workers and ask that they receive the supplies they need so they can safely and compassionately take care of their patients."
In addition to making this digital flipbook available free of charge, Marie and the Marian Fathers are also releasing a new Healthcare Spiritual Ministry Kit which includes:
 A hard copy of Nursing with the Hands of Jesus: A Guide to Nurses for Divine Mercy
 A set of Rosary beads
 A Miraculous Medal
 A Divine Mercy pin
 A Divine Mercy Chaplet prayer card
 An emergency Divine Mercy prayer card
In ordinary situations, healthcare professionals can rely on pastoral departments within their hospitals to spiritually care for their patients. "But a chaplain is not always available," Marie said. "They need to know how to spiritually care for their patients in emergency situations."
"During this time, healthcare professionals will have to make decisions they might not have had to make before. For example, medical teams now are forced to make a decision on allocation of ventilators, which is exactly what they had to do in Italy," Marie said. "These situations cause severe moral distress for the healthcare professional, this is another reason to pray for us."
"The biggest goal here is to make the spiritual care of patients a reality for healthcare professionals ... This is easy. Just the fact that they want to help not only with their medical care but spiritually is so encouraging because when rendering patient care they become the merciful presence of Jesus."
Photo by Ani Kolleshi on Unsplash.
"Our hope is that we can spread the message of the spiritual care of the patient to every healthcare provider," said Marie, who notes that the book is in congruence with the Joint Commission guidelines and has received full authorization from the Catholic Church. "We want to take the initiative and be the leader in getting this information to every healthcare professional so they can not only be enriched spiritually, but so they can provide spiritual care for their patients, even if the patient doesn't know they're being spiritually cared for."
Providentially, the World Health Organization designated 2020 as the "Year of the Nurse and the Midwife." Pope Francis reminded the Church as much in a homily on Jan. 19, 2020. He said, "Nurses are the most numerous health workers, and midwives are perhaps the most noble of the professions. ... Let us pray for all of them, that they may do their precious work in the best possible way."
For Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy, an apostolate of the Marian Fathers in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, "the best way possible" demands professional formation that integrates the best of medical science with bio-medical ethics, pastoral care, Judeo-Christian Revelation, and Divine Mercy spirituality.
According to Marie, one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare professionals during this global pandemic is the lack of enough personal protective equipment. "As many healthcare professionals have become sick and quarantined as a result of being exposed to the virus, there's a tremendous shortage of not only nurses and doctors but also surgical masks and protective equipment, including ventilators. We are asking nurses and doctors to do an incredibly tough job - to go into hospital rooms with potentially life-threatening pathogens. So we are asking our Lord and Our Lady to intercede for them. We all need to ask for the grace of protection for all healthcare workers and ask that they receive the supplies they need so they can safely and compassionately take care of their patients."
In addition to making this digital flipbook available free of charge, Marie and the Marian Fathers are also releasing a new Healthcare Spiritual Ministry Kit which includes:
 A hard copy of Nursing with the Hands of Jesus: A Guide to Nurses for Divine Mercy
 A set of Rosary beads
 A Miraculous Medal
 A Divine Mercy pin
 A Divine Mercy Chaplet prayer card
 An emergency Divine Mercy prayer card
In ordinary situations, healthcare professionals can rely on pastoral departments within their hospitals to spiritually care for their patients. "But a chaplain is not always available," Marie said. "They need to know how to spiritually care for their patients in emergency situations."
"During this time, healthcare professionals will have to make decisions they might not have had to make before. For example, medical teams now are forced to make a decision on allocation of ventilators, which is exactly what they had to do in Italy," Marie said. "These situations cause severe moral distress for the healthcare professional, this is another reason to pray for us."
"The biggest goal here is to make the spiritual care of patients a reality for healthcare professionals ... This is easy. Just the fact that they want to help not only with their medical care but spiritually is so encouraging because when rendering patient care they become the merciful presence of Jesus."
Photo by Ani Kolleshi on Unsplash.
NURS