A Few More Things I’ve Noticed At The Hospital – Besides The Chicken Soup

First a brief tour.  This is the lobby of the Heart Center.  You’ll notice how the elevators are designed to resemble the inferior vena cava and the aorta, one being blue and the other being red.  And you can even sort of see the heart itself up above through the glass roof.  

Next, this is the little shul in the hospital.  I’ve been able to daven mincha there only once so far because of the timing, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless.  

This is one of the general business cards they have for the heart center.  The tag line says, “Hope without borders.”

This is on the ground outside the heart center and I’ve since seen it a few other places scattered around the hospital campus.  Its a superman-style cartoon that says, “People of Sheba, You are our heros, Thank You! From the residents of Ramat Gan”  I just thought it was cute because I love Superman. And because the Hebrew is simple enough that I can actually read it 😀

Then inside the CCU (the cardiac ICU) they have two little prayers hanging on the wall, the physician’s prayer written by the Rambam, the famous rabbi from 12th century Spain, and a newer, recently composed nurse’s prayer as well.  It’s so cool how they combine old traditional prayers, in this case the physician’s prayer, with newer modern ones.  They could have displayed a poem about nursing or a piece of artwork about healing. But the format they chose was a prayer.  Because that’s just our way.  And it’s beautiful to see it. 

This one I noticed from the bus on the way to work. It’s the Teva Pharmaceuticals building. The architecture here is pretty amazing. Here, they made the building actually look like a drug molecule binding to its receptor.

And last but not least, I’m beginning to notice all the various army insignias on the shoulders of the soldiers with whom I share the bus ride to work.  And while I have no idea what any of them mean, this particular one is self-explanatory.

Here are my translations for the Physician’s prayer and for the Nurse’s prayer, with a little help from google translate (just a little, though. 😀)

Nurses Prayer

May it be your will, Creator Of The World, who leads with mercy and lovingkindness, that you should merit me to give medicines to your people Israel who need saving, and also to other nations who are found under the dedicated treatment of your faithful messenger, who do holy work days and nights, shabbats and holidays, tirelessly.  

Merit me please to understand, to know, and to remember always, that the medicines are a gift from you and the actions of your messenger.  Merit me please to have the vision to be happy for the beneficial effects of the medicines I will give to the sick, in mercy. Merit me please to give the medicines with concentration and with understanding of the mechanism of action of the medicine on the patient.  

Merit me please to notice in time any mistake by me or my friends, in the chain of giving medicine, and to act quickly to fix it before the medication arrives in the body of the patient. Merit me please to always act modestly, to teach and to learn from others, from their successes and failures in giving medicines.  Merit me please to give medicines to the sick in health and in thankfulness that I do not have to take these medicines myself. 

Merit me please to learn to identify in health with the suffering of the sick and to help them to best of my abilities, with the vessels that you give me, day by day, hour by hour.

Amen

Physician’s Prayer – Rambam – Maimonides (abridged version)

God Most High, first, as I begin my holy work of healing your creations, I pray my petition before you, to give me courage, spirit, and great vigor to do my work in faith, and that the desire to amass a fortune or good will not blind my eyes in the present. Give me the privilege of seeing the sufferer that comes to ask my advice in every person, without difference between rich or poor, friend or enemy, good person or bad person, in their suffering.  Show me only the person.  I have loved the teachings of medicine.  Strengthen my spirit.  Let only the truth be a light for my feet. Because any laxity in my work can bring destruction and disease to your creations. Please, God, merciful and gracious, strengthen me, give me courage in my body and in my soul, and plant a full spirit within me.