Chaplain On Call

Position Summary
This position is responsible for the delivery of pastoral care to patients, their families, students, and staff. This position is responsible to ensure that the religious and spiritual needs of patients, their families, students and staff are met.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Provide pastoral ministry (in a timely manner) to patients/families and clinical personnel taking into consideration multiple elements of cultural and ethnic diversity and social conditions, without imposing one’s own perspectives.
• Assess patient and family spiritual needs and assist families in using their faith and/or spiritual resources in dealing with illness, trauma, and stress; visit newly admitted patients and patients with special requests; visit critical care areas; follow up with patients from previous visits as appropriate. Provide crisis intervention as necessary.
• Provide a range of skills, including empathic reflection, listening/attending, and appropriate use of religious/spiritual resources.
• Document consultation outcomes and retain records per Pastoral Care process.
• Maintain a working relationship between Pastoral Care and medical staff, nursing staff, and other departments.
• Contribute to the department’s plan for continuous quality improvement (CQI).
• Support an interdisciplinary approach to pastoral care.
• Assess patients and families spiritual risk factors to include relationship with God/Deity, prior functioning levels, appropriateness and adequacy of support systems, reaction to illness and ability to cope.
• Provide pastoral counseling to patients and families regarding religious/spiritual, and emotional consequences of illness and/or disability, accessing and mobilizing family/community spiritual resources to meet identified needs.
• Provide crisis ministry and bereavement/grief ministry with patients, families and clinical personnel.
• Collaborate with the patient, family and multidisciplinary team to assure identified religious/spiritual/cultural needs are addressed.
• Facilitate spirituality support group on the adult in-patient psychiatric unit, the rehabilitation unit, and other units as invited.
• Provide for coordination of services with community religious institutions.
• Educate patients and families regarding Advance Directives.
• Adhere to all hospital standards, policies, and procedures. Adhere to the code of ethics of the Association of Professional Chaplains.
• Perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned.
• Perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned.