I have been in a few situations that trapped me in a hospital bed. I have not had to go through that type of situation I state right off that I am agnostic and that seems to keep the religion away from me.

Wow, what an ordeal. Glad you are ok.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the religious stuff you had to put up with might be on the extreme side. But, just in case, I'm going to avoid the nonsecular hospitals.

Decades ago I worked at a Catholic hospital in the admitting area. Granted, I didn't see all that went on in the rooms, but the priest and nuns there seemed fairly benign, other than assuming everyone had some religion.

For 911 calls I had 2 local hospitals in Nashua, NH. My hospital of choice was 1 1/2 hours away in Lebanin, NH - Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. As a cancer survivor I felt at home there, however I had to go to a local hospital first. One was St. Joseph's, a Catholic Hospital, not my favorite. They have priests as Chaplins, I was raised Jewish, though now totally atheist/agnostic. I've spent a week or two there-not my fave. Memorial Hospital is better-no religion. You get to tell the ambulance what hospital to go to.

An anthropologist was watching a New Guinea witch doctor treating his patients. The patient would lay down on a straw mat. And the witch doctor would dance around the patient, shaking skull rattles, and chanting incantations to drive away evil spirits. After one such session, the anthropologist asked the witch doctor if he really thought his treatments did any good. The witch doctor told him no, but that what was important, was whether the patient BELIEVED it had done him some good. (True story).

Catholics are the most tolerant yeh, despite Catholicism or bc of it. Anyway as you note, prayers are known to be mostly for the pray-er, there's even a v to that effect i think

Glad you made it through that ordeal with quality care.

Haven't yet been in intensive care but have visited the local catholic medical provider for an appointment Aside form little dolls of a (mythical?) dead guy hanging on an medieval death and torture device, I was not subjected to the rituals in the supernatural (not real) spectrum.

so basically you just wanted to tell this long story for nothing

Nobody asked ? That’s sounds weird . It’s mandatory in every state to ask about your “ spiritual “ and cultural needs . There is no way except if lazy admitting nurses at ER .
If u request a copy of your admitting assessment, u will realize that a lazy nurse got u down as a Christian .
Religious affiliated hospitals are still evaluated by same rules , so if they want to get their funds from state and their scores in check , they are obligated to provide quality care .
However , they do not provide certain procedures and treatments Bcz of their religion / philosophy . That’s the difference . Not the quality of care .
Lastly , if I am in SICU or micu , last I need to see is a priest or similar rodent . What is that u got out of his service that qualify as “ great care “? Prayers and confetti ?
Define great care for me . What was the extra mile ?
Anything else, is standard . Great care at hospital setting =
Keep me safe
Help me heal
Treat me w kidness
Respect my wishes .
That’s STANDARD . If U don’t get that at ANY hospital , then u are treated poorly
I guess at the place u went , u got some prayers w it too . Congrats . The priest saved your life .

I haven’t had a similar experience, but your inner convo’s definitely sound like some I’ve had with myself! I hope you’ve since had a full recovery and are in good health

That's a great story. Thanks for sharing.

Once—years ago—I spent two weeks in a Catholic hospital as a “philosopher-in-residence” and I was very impressed with how conscientiously professional they were. The CEO, a Dominican nun, said whenever she interviewed applicants for any positions there she never asked their religion, and if they volunteered that they were Catholic she always held it as a mark against them.

Any time I end up in the hospital they always ask me if I have any religious specifications.

I was/am an agnostic in military. I tcan tell you from personal experience, us dumb monkeys start praying when it gets heavy. If you doubt that you've never had your life on the line.

Really good reason to create advance directives and/or a living will, and make sure a copy is always readily available- give one to your PCP, one to a close family member or friend you trust to speak for you, one taped to your fridge, and one in your medical record at any hospital you may frequent. Those documents cover things like "do not recusitate" orders and issiues with appointing a spokesperson for medical decisions if your unable to speak for yourself, but they also cover things like religious prefences, cultural prefernces, or who to allow to visit you.

Side note an ambulance will always takw you to the last hospital you went to, if its reasonably close and offers the right level of care.., so if you need to call an ambulance (or someone calls one for you) the EMTs need you to specifically request a different facility if you don't want to go back to St Cs.

No, in Ireland, where I live, they ask you about your religion or lack of it (option "no religion" ) and that's it. The doctor can be a Muslim, can be atheist, we don't know and nobody really cares about it.

Ambulances where I live(California) will take you to the closest medically relevant hospital. So if I needed a trauma hospital they may go past the closest hospital and take me to the trauma hospital. The hospital I work for is an HMO and a patient may asked to be taken to us but should the patient condition worsen the ambulance crew will go to the closest hospital that can care for them. It may not have been a religious decision that brought you to that hospital but a logistical or medical reason.

I don't understand this weird alliance between religion and medical science. Every hospital seems to be mired in Xianity with passages from scripture on the walls, clergymen on staff making rounds, medical staff making references to Jesus, it's everywhere. It's to a point where all these hospitals almost seem to be religious organizations.

No other science does this. The scientists at the Keck observatory don't punch in and proclaim Jesus is Lord before searching the heavens for new and wondrous discoveries.

Get the Xian bullshit out of medical science.

They are always looking to add a convert to their ranks.

There's are many big corporate churches around Rochester, and the most vile of them ("The Father's House" ) sends people to the local hospitals to pray over them. Just as you would expect from hucksters and charlatans, the church takes credit for every recovery and disavows every failure.

My mom was in a car accident a few years ago at age of 82. She broke her pelvis and three ribs. She needed no bone setting, immobilization, or cast. What she needed was pain management and physical therapy.

My sisters and I all came together to help out, and we consulted with anyone we could find. One of my sister's friends was a Jewish doctor that had a connection to a Catholic rehab hospital about an hour's drive from my mom's place where I stayed to help out. My mom is a Jewish humanist, and we did consider many factors. Ultimately, we chose the Catholic place because of the level of care, and because we had a powerful advocate that was in their system (sometimes its really helpful if there are problems).

It turned out to be a wise choice. The staff was wonderful, to a person. We felt like we had a real partnership with the doctors and the nurses regarding pain management, regulating doses, etc. The food was excellent, all fresh ingredients, restaurant quality. Who knew? There were quick prayers over the loudspeaker once a day, and an occasional priestly visit, which my mom handled gracefully, like you did.

We are used to navigating in a culture where we are not the majority. Amongst the heirarchy of oppressions, this is not the highest. They were religious, but not proselytizing. We left grateful for the level of care. After almost a year more of physical therapy on an outpatient basis, my mom is fully recovered and back to teaching yoga classes.

Yeah, but I've told the pastor coming in that he was only doing this for his own sake as I was a no longer believer. He was ok with that and didn't push.