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Submitted by Rev. Dr. Debra Orton, Coordinating Chaplain, Valley Regional Hospital
“I don’t know what else to do for my staff,” was the cry of one nursing manager as the stress related to COVID-19 began to build on a variety of health care workers. Yes, we were all aware of the seriousness of the pandemic through media and social media reports coming from Asia and Europe. However, when it hit our own shores it brought a new reality to the soberness of the pandemic, especially when staff were asked to mask for their entire shift, trained for donning and doffing of PPE, and work with potential COVID-19 patients.
When Team Lavender (a newly formed peer-to-peer support team) heard the cry for help they put a plan together to support the emotional, spiritual and psychological well-being of health care workers. Due to the demands on staff, they found it hard to leave the floor. Helping their families to cope with and manage the realities of a lockdown made it challenging for them to come in on their days off for self care. Consequently, Team Lavender went back to the drawing board to see how they could support these vital workers. Thus, the “Wall of Hope” was born.
Two clinical nurse educators began to draw a huge heart in the center of a blank wall in the chapel. The plan was to invite health care workers to paint their hands on and around the heart. Team Lavender was hoping they might get a half a dozen people to participate. After painting their own hands on the wall to see what it would look like, the two nurses and the Spiritual Care Coordinator went to the washing stations on the Medical Unit to clean their hands. The nurses saw them and asked, “What are you doing?” When they were told, the nursing staff ran to the chapel to have their hands painted on the wall. Before we knew it there was a lineup from the chapel, and down the hallway. For several weeks, health care workers came from all over Valley Regional Hospital to put their hands on the wall.
So why did this informal debriefing activity become so important to our health care workers? It became a place where they could freely and safely shed their tears, express their emotional and spiritual pain, grief, despair, fear resulting from the uncertainty of the pandemic. The Wall of Hope was also a place where they could share their stories and find comfort in supporting one another. It was a place where they could let their working partners know how much they meant to them and how much they appreciated one another, as the realities of the pandemic forced many of them to reflect deeply on their own mortality. For some health care workers, their caring hearts were hurting as they tried to answer questions from their children. “Mommy are you going to die because of your work?” Some had discussions with their coworkers about the realities and possibilities of their colleagues or themselves dying from exposure to COVID-19, wondering how they would handle such a horrible situation.
With emotions spinning like a tornado inside of them, the Wall of Hope became a place to lament and yet celebrate one another and their family. Some health care workers whose life partners also work at the hospital wanted to paint their hands together on the wall, side by side. Others wanted to paint their hands on the wall with their working partners, while some painted each of their hands in a different colour - one representing them and the other representing their children.
Sadly, Nova Scotia faced more than the pandemic in the Spring of 2020. A mass shooting took the lives of 22 Nova Scotians, including two Victorian Order of Nurses staff, and members from our community partners - policing, volunteer fire fighters, and correctional officers. Further, a helicopter crash killed several military personnel overseas, including three Nova Scotians. Unfortunately, this was not the last of the tragedies. On their way out of the province Canada’s Snowbirds flew over our hospital, Valley Regional. They had missed us on the first flyover and wanted to make sure our health workers were honoured. Proudly, we stood in the parking lot waving to our beautiful military personnel. A short time later, one of the Snowbirds crashed during their mission to “Inspire Us”, all Canadians. The public affairs officer aboard, Capt. Jennifer Casey of Halifax, died in the crash - another loss of life for Nova Scotia.
Carrying all this pain in their hearts, health care workers asked if we could incorporate our community partners into the Wall of Hope. Many of them were connected to those who had died in these tragedies. Some have loved ones in the military, policing, correctional services, volunteer fire departments and community nursing. The grief from these tragedies and sense of helplessness was overwhelming. The nurses who created the Wall of Hope painted a fire hat, a red maple leaf for our RCMP Officers, two gold leaves for our correctional officers and two blue and white birds for our VON staff. More employees came to place their hands around the symbols on the Wall of Hope to hug those who had lost their lives, to thank them for their service and dedication, and to let them know they would never be forgotten.
The Wall of Hope is a piece of art and a symbol of inclusiveness. The artists painted two trees representing the Tree of Life, significant to some religions and cultures. A white dove sits on a branch on each tree, symbolizing hope. A white ribbon held by each dove weaves through the heart, holding our cherished community partners: policing, volunteer fire fighters, Emergency Health Services, Community Clergy and Spiritual Leaders, Correctional Services, and Victorian Order of Nurses. The hands of many health care workers are the leaves on the trees. Rainbow colors were chosen for the paint. Team Lavender wanted the Wall of Hope to represent as much of our diverse health care family and the wider community as possible. As one health care worker said, “I have never seen our hospital so united as it is now with the Wall of Hope.”
The Wall of Hope became a place where health care workers gathered in silence or sat by themselves to find solace or to eat their meals in peace. It became a place where their tender, loving and caring hearts could find healing, new strength and courage to continue serving those in need, regardless of the challenges or risks to their own health. The Wall of Hope was a place where pain and suffering could freely be released, where we were embraced in our wholeness and where the goodness of our common humanity shone like a bright light in the middle of the night.
In my tradition let me say, “Thanks be to God for gathering us in community so we could lament and find new hope in the midst of what felt like days of emotional and spiritual darkness.”
