1. Basic Ministry Skills How to Make a Hospital Visit
Path to Leadership
Basic Ministry Skills
How to Make a Hospital Visit

2. How to Make A Hospital Visit
Path to Leadership
Arrive after 10:00 AM
Knock for permission to enter and wait for an invitation to enter the room.
Listen closely; hospital rooms doors are thick and the patient's voice may be weak!
Introduce yourself to the patient.
Position yourself in the line of the patient’s vision.

3. Things Not to Do In A Hospital Visit
Path to Leadership
Don’t offer your hand… let the patient invite a handshake.
Don’t sit down, except at the invitation of the patient.
Never sit on the bed.
Do not wake a sleeping patient.
Leave a handwritten note
Perhaps, along with a devotional magazine.
Don’t offer medical advice or tell about someone else who had the same thing.

4. Keep Visits Brief Normally, visits should last 5 to 10 minutes
Path to Leadership
Normally, visits should last 5 to 10 minutes
Depending on relationship, purpose, and the patient’s state of health.
If you arrive at mealtime, make your visit very brief.
If their Doctor comes in, excuse yourself immediately.

5. How to Make A Hospital Visit
Path to Leadership
Focus on the patient once you are in the room.
Instead of asking,
“How are you feeling?”
…You might ask,
“How are things going today?”
Listen; Let the patient do most of the talking.

6. Offer Prayer As You Leave
Path to Leadership
When it is time to leave, offer a prayer
With the patient’s permission
When possible, hold the patient’s hand or gently place your hand on the patient’s arm or shoulder.
When praying, be comprehensive and specific.
Pray for the patient’s freedom from pain
Pray about family concerns, if any
Pray for God’s will to be accomplished in this sickness and recovery
Express dependence upon the Lord

7. Path to Leadership