“I cherish the depth of connection”, Sarah Scott

Sarah Scott has a ready laugh, a listening ear and an ability to accept people as they are. Nova Scotian born and bred Sarah is a wife, mother, chaplain, lifelong learner and most recently the new Spiritual Health Clinician at Valley Hospice.

As soon as she heard about the possibility that this position would be available she could not contain her excitement. She saw the position as a rare opportunity to be with people at one of the most important points in their lives. She confessed that she had to find a balance between being annoying and being persistent as she carefully monitored the development of the hospice waiting to apply for the new position.

Sarah notes that in some workplaces there are good people working in a broken system but since starting to work at the hospice she has found good people working an a “just right environment”. There is an openness and collegiality in the hospice that has, in her experience, the right proportionality of persons being cared for, to care providers.

Sarah finds it affirming to be present for people as they share their anger, worry,  grief, and attempt to process the complexity of what they are experiencing. “I want to be available”, she says, “ as a loving, accepting and welcoming presence for people regardless of what is in their past.”

Time spent with a hospice resident who had experienced trauma in their life, including in their church, opened the door to a healing connection where that person could experience a true sense of life’s goodness. In the end, “I cherish that depth of connection”.