Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas Boatright | PORTSMOUTH, Va. (May 6, 2026) Lt. Cmdr. Lloyd Wicker, assigned to Naval Medical Center...... read more read more
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (May 8, 2026) The Blessing of the Hands is a sacred tradition atNaval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP), the Navy’s oldest continuously operating hospital.
Falling annually during the kickoff ofNational Nurses Week (May 6–12), the event serves as a poignant reminder of the spiritual and emotional weight carried by those on the front lines of military medicine.
The command chaplains held their deckplate rounds May 6–8 in the mornings and the afternoons to reach every ward, from the Intensive Care Unit to the Mother-Baby units, as shift changes were occurring so both day and night shift nurses could participate. The day shift nurses could go to the chapel of Comfort to be blessed from 9 to 11 a.m.
“Blessing the hands is part of nurse's week and [a] tradition that was meant to honor nurses, kind of beginning with Florence Nightingale and her work and compassionate care,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ben Mayhugh, a chaplain at NMCP. “The significance of the blessing of the hands is that it gives an opportunity for nurses and chaplains to connect to the spirit, make a spiritual connection between the work that they do, caring for the body, and the work of caring for the soul as well.”
The ritual is simple but profound. A Chaplain approaches a nurse and asks if they would like a blessing. With a small vial of oil or water, the Chaplain makes a sign on the nurse’s palms.
"May these hands, which touch life and feel pain, be a vessel of healing and compassion."
The oil or water represents consecration, refreshment, and the oil of gladness amidst the stress of the ward. The hands are the primary tools of the trade used to administer medicine, stabilize a wound, or offer a comforting squeeze to a frightened patient.The blessing reinforces the nurse’s sense of purpose and inner strength, which is vital for spiritual and mental resilience.
For the nurses at NMCP, Nurses Week is a time of intense reflection in this high-stakes environment, where the mission often involves caring for warfighters and their families.
The physical laying on of hands represents the transition from clinical procedure to human connection. This tradition reinvigorates the passion of the staff and reminds them that despite the advancements in medical technology and AI, there is no replacement for thehealing touchof a person dedicated to the service of others.
“As chaplains, this gives us an opportunity to emphasize how important spiritual care is in the overall caring for a patient. They need more than just physical care, they need spiritual care as well, and nurses can do that,” Mayhugh added. “It also gives us an opportunity to, lift up the nurses, you know, to encourage them, to connect their work to something bigger than just what's happening so that they feel part of a community that's larger than just their ward or their clinic or the people around them.”
At NMCP, the Blessing of the Hands is more than a ceremony; it is a renewal of theNightingale Pledgeand a testament to the hospital’s nearly 200-year legacy of providing Compassion in Action to the fleet.
| Date Taken: | 05.08.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2026 15:40 |
| Story ID: | 564846 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 28 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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