Mind-body medicine training works on hospital staff, too
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JC McFarland, a registered nurse at Allegheny General Hospital, helps patient Ethel Taylor with calming techniques. -
Volunteers Jeanne Weideman, left, and Liz Tafel-Hurley apply hands and pressure to Harriet Krystopolski as part of a Reiki treatment for pain at Allegheny General Hospital.
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The Positive Health Clinic at Allegheny General Hospital gets its share of people with an acute fear of needles. There have been patients who scream or even pass out during the nerve-wracking 15 minutes or more it takes to draw about 20 tubes of blood that will tell HIV-positive patients the state of their illness.
But registered nurse Terry Lang has found a way to help some of them get past their needle phobia: the deep-breathing relaxation technique she and 13 other AGH doctors and staff members learned in recent training with the famed Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.
So far Ms. Lang has done relaxation breathing coupled with imagery, or visualization, of a nice place the patients would like to be with three of her needle-phobic patients. The results have been remarkable.
"The three I've done have been half-asleep -- in a place where they're half-awake, half-asleep," she said. "Once the needle is out, I tell them we're going to leave the nice place." After a few more breaths, she tells them it is time to awake.
"They feel really positive, relaxed, amazed at what's happened," she said. "They've been petrified of needles. ... [Now] they say, 'We'll never be afraid of having it done again.' "
And that's an example of what mind-body medicine, also called integrated medicine and used at both AGH and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, is all about. It's a recognition that the mind, body and spirit all work together in the healing process.
"I think that [the needle phobics' experiences] is a great example because the thing about this stuff is that it all sounds like a great idea, but people ask how practical is it?" said Dr. Betsy W. Blazek-O'Neill, medical director of AGH's Integrated Medicine Program and the person behind getting approval for the Benson-Henry Institute training. "In certain settings it's very practical. ...
"This stuff matters. A patient should not have to come in and have a horrible experience every time they have their blood drawn."
And a doctor or staffer should not be so stressed that it interferes with his or her interaction with the patient.
That's part of the mission of the staff who had the Benson-Henry training, which was paid for by a recent $250,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development: To not only do the relaxation technique with patients bedside and, eventually, with families in waiting rooms, but to do it -- and teach it -- to other staff.
First Published July 7, 2010 12:00 am
