Intensive Prayer Unit

Many patients find prayer to be very comforting and uplifting.

Several hospitals, such as Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, utilize a program called Intensive Prayer Unit to help address one's spiritual needs. The program's goal is to provide prayer support, upon request, to patients and families who want to receive a spiritual expression of love and concern.

This program provides a way of sharing the hope and strength that goes beyond our technical limitations.

Volunteers from area churches commit to pray each day for specific patients who have requested prayer. Upon admission, patients are given an Intensive Prayer Unit information packet. If they desire to participate in the program, they complete the application form that asks for the patient's first name, a brief description of the patient, his or her medical situation, and what specific prayer requests may be in order.

The completed form is directed to the Pastoral Care Department and then to a specific prayer-giver in a participating local congregation. The prayer-giver agrees to pray for the anonymous patient daily for 15 days.

For many, prayer is communication to a higher power when all else seems powerless. Prayer can offer any of us hope and healing in the darkest times. Prayer helps us to reach out to something greater and wiser than our limited selves.

The Intensive Prayer Unit is ecumenical and voluntary. It is not meant to take the place of a patient's church or family. Prayers for the patients and families are lifted up by strangers out of love and a genuine sense of faith in God's healing power.

For more discussion about meeting the patient's spiritual needs, please read the following articles:

The Nurse's Role in Providing Spiritual Care - Is It OK to Pray?

What is Parish Nursing?