Provides support to patients, families and hospital staff. Chaplains are available 24/7 to families and staff in emotional, spiritual, and ethical crisis. Offers pastoral care and bereavement care to families who have experienced death at Children’s Hospital, and offer religious and psychological resources to assist those in crisis. Acts as liaison between hospital and clergy in the community, and serves on committees such as the Ethics Committee, Internal Review Board, and Palliative Care Committee.

REPORTS TO

• Director—Pastoral Care

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Supervisory Responsibilities: NO

Minimum Education: Master of Divinity or Equivalent from an Accredited School of Theology. A Minimum of Four Units of Clinical Pastoral Education from an accredited center.

Degree: Master of Divinity

License/Certification Required: Eligible for endorsement by a faith group. Certification eligible in the Association of Professional Chaplains.

Minimum Work Experience: Five years of pastoral experience

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Interpersonal skills needed to work with people who are stressed, ability to assess patients’ spiritual needs, empathy, communication and crisis intervention skills, bereavement skills.
• Ethical knowledge and behavior and ability to intervene in ethical issues.
• Ability to work as part of a team.
• Comfortable ministering to people of all cultures, religions, and ethnic backgrounds with the ability to help staff bridge gaps.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provides on-going Spiritual Care to meet needs related directly to the patients’ and their families’ spiritual lives. Makes rounds on nursing units, ensuring that a member of Spiritual Care is always available to address patient, family, and staff needs.
• Accurately assesses interactions of family systems involving patient, family and staff.
• Ensures and responds to patient/family requesting spiritual counseling/care within 48 hours of referral in an appropriate manner, respecting the requests and decisions of patients and their families.
• Provides spiritual and emotional supportive care to the staff, including emotional counseling to individual staff members. Provides support counseling to employees, showing empathy and compassion at all times. Provides and/or coordinates appropriate follow-up care, as needed.
• Maintains confidentiality of all hospital staff and patient information at all times, as observed by peers and management.
• Provides crisis intervention, as appropriate.
• Notifies the patients’/families’ minister as appropriate.
• Interacts and collaborates with medical personnel and ancillary staff in an appropriate manner, participating as a member of the health care team, and acts in a considerate, helpful, and courteous manner when interacting with all patients, staff, volunteers, etc.
• Promotes department’s operational excellence and ensures that the department delivers quality services in accordance with applicable policies, procedures, and professional standards.
• Shares on-call coverage (days and evenings) with other Chaplains to ensure availability of spiritual care.
• Fosters mature professional relationships with fellow employees in a courteous, friendly, manner as measured by management observation and peer input.
• Promotes effective working relations and works effectively as part of a department/unit team (inter-and intra-departmentally) to facilitate the department's/unit's ability to meet its goals and objectives.
• Willingly accepts any other assignment that may be requested.
• Utilizes hospital resources and time respectfully and accountably.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS-Note: Reasonable accommodations may be made for individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

• Light lifting, pushing and pulling is required for 10-20 lbs occasionally and frequent moving of objects of less than 10 lbs is required. Frequent sitting with some walking, standing, squatting, bending, and reaching is required. Keyboard/computer use and/or repetitive motions may be required.