I was escorted to the woman’s bedroom where she and her private duty aide spent much of the day. The TV was on and it was on loud. It also happened to be tuned to the Christian Broadcasting Network. The patient being cared for was Jewish. She could not get up from bed nor from a chair without the help of her aide. I talked with the aide about how inappropriate it was for her to have an evangelical program on in the woman’s house, but she saw nothing wrong with her actions and, in fact, felt she was doing a holy thing.­ She also let me know that the woman she was caring for never voiced any complaint about her choice of TV, and that if such things bothered her, she could say something. I tried to explain that many people fear voicing such things, as they are afraid of how they will be treated afterwards – much like a patient in a health center is afraid to voice complaints about how this or that nurse or aide treats them. The aide told me that she was not forcing the woman to participate in any other religion but her own. Yet, the elderly woman was, indeed, being forced to listen to a minister preach ad nauseum about a faith that was not her own, and she was stuck doing so in her own home.­I talked with a rep from the company the aide came from and voiced my complaint, and, again, I was told if the patient was uncomfortable, all she had to do was voice her complaint. I again attempted to explain that the woman may well be afraid of repercussions, but was told that there is no rule against what the aide was doing. I then tried to explain that just because you are permitted to do something does not necessarily make it the right thing to do. And I had to wonder to myself how things would have been if the shoe was on the other foot.­ I then asked what they tell clients about the aides they send out and was told that they send out trained staff who do everything they can to comfort and care for their clients. And that is when I said, “If that is the case, then your staff should be trained to avoid doing things that would make it necessary for a complaint to be raised in the first place.”­

You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself … not my words, but words with a great message. So let me ask you … if you were the one stuck in the bed, dependent on someone else to tend to your needs, how would you feel?­

Don’t get me wrong, the aide is more than welcome to read her Bible silently or listen to a program with a set of headphones on, but a healthcare provider should not be subjecting the patient to something so foreign to the client’s own belief system.­

I know there are those of you reading this who feel that political correctness has gone way  overboard, but when your job is to comfort someone who is in a position of weakness via an illness or an injury… Well, may you always have enough control of your body and your mind to decide for yourself what to read and listen to in the comfort of your home and may those of us blessed to visit you be wise enough to avoid causing any added discomfort.­ As I remember, the rule of thumb is, if you can’t heal somebody, at least avoid causing any harm.­

Shalom My Friends,­ Rabbi Ezring­

(And please know that most of the health care workers I come across truly are angels. At least, they are in my eyes. G-d Bless them one and all.)­ ­

Rabbi Ezring is a Hospice Chaplain and Member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains. He also provides Professional Pastoral Care Services to a number of health centers in Broward County.