title: St. Mary's has a "Sailabration". An Indiana hospital sets aside a day for spiritual renewal.
abstract: Ascension Health has asked all of its health care ministries to promote spirituality in the workplace. St. Mary's Health System, Evansville, IN, responded to this request with several initiatives, including the development, facilitation, and implementation of a new model for what St. Mary's calls its "Employee Renewal Day." Revamped from a voluntary unpaid day to a paid day on which participation is strongly encouraged, Employee Renewal Day 2004 focused on fellowship, relaxation, and the history and heritage of St. Mary's and its sponsor. Based on an employee's suggestion, the mission team adopted a nautical theme, "Sailabration Cruise: A Day of Renewal," and took employees on "a voyage" complete with mission-themed ports, passenger photos, a ship's log, purser's desk, and an activities director. More than 1,200 St. Mary's employees-or 23 percent of the total workforce-participated. All of St. Mary's 135 leaders were in attendance. The new Employee Renewal Day model will be tried over a three-year period, so as to measure the progress of furthering the integration of spirituality within the organizational culture.
authors.affiliation: St. Mary's Medical Center, Evansville, IN, USA. badarch@stmarys.org
authors.lastname: Sister Betty Anne Darch
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Newsmaster
mesh_terms: D002410:Catholicism; D016519:Hospitals, Religious / Q000941:ethics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007196:Indiana; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007857:Leadership; D017146:Models, Organizational; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010327:Pastoral Care; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D012945:Social Values; D029181:Spirituality; D035502:Trust; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology