This post is an overview of hospital chaplaincy. Created to inform the reader about the basic role of the chaplain. Here we will discuss their duties, various roles, and functions. It will address who the chaplain will visit and why one should be called. We will provide types of interventions they use and offer brief reasons why the chaplain should be called.

     Did you know that more than 70% of hospitals in the United States have chaplains on staff? Chaplains are a mandated part of the interdisciplinary hospital care team. The Joint Commission, which oversees the way hospitals are ran, have deemed the chaplain a vital member to a patients care team. Chaplains traditionally serve as a spiritual support or guide for those seeking assistance with life interruptions. The hospital chaplain is available to give spiritual support to everyone and anyone twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. That’s right, 24/7 service to everyone and anyone. They support all people no matter what religion, culture, faith, or lack thereof. This means the chaplain does not discriminate but gives emotional and spiritual support to all as needed and desired.

     Chaplains do not proselytize nor judge. They meet needs. They are equipped to tend to people in various situation. They are skilled listeners and excellent advocates. They are trained clergy, who stand in the gap as a representative for people’s religious traditions and values. They use their training to gain insight into people’s psychological, religious, emotional, and spiritual concerns. That’s right, their roles and duties extend beyond the spiritual. However, they may keep a person’s spiritual life at the forefront of their minds.

     Chaplains are not a deemed as a clinical support like therapists for they work in a sphere outside the “check boxes” of their clinical and medical colleagues. The healthcare system supports the chaplain’s work because it recognizes that people are more than their biology or physiology, they are also spiritual. The healthcare system understands in order to serve people wholly one must tend to the body, mind, and spirit. Therefore, the chaplain’s work is considered holistic.

     Most hospital chaplains have formal training in pastoral care, family counseling, grief and bereavement support, addiction counseling, along with crisis and trauma interventions. They work with a large array of knowledge and operate in wisdom as well as compassion, empathy, and understanding. They are often described as excellent listeners and are able to bring a calm presence to a direr situation. They are ready to help with Advance Directives, ethical guidance with medical decisions, and aid people to process devastating news. They can marry people at bedside, christen babies, baptize adults, and celebrate good news with patients, their families, and staff members.

     Chaplains are professional confidants who provide a safe place for people to talk about their faith, family, concerns, worries, disappointments, fear, dreams, and anxieties. They help people with anger, frustrations, pain, suicidal thoughts, suicidal aftermath, and so much more. While a chaplain is there to listen and to guide, they also understand the power of just “being”. They are able to discern when to talk and when to say nothing. This is known as the Ministry of Presence. Being is a vital way to support people in crisis. This allows for a calm presence to be in the midst of chaotic places which brings a strength and peace in times of complete weakness and life crushing situations.

     The chaplain works with the interdisciplinary team comprised of doctors, nurses, therapists, specialists, and social workers. They offer an additional set of eyes and ears to patients and their families and bring fresh insight to the patients care team. But the chaplain also serves the hospital staff. Chaplains are a support resource for staff members. All employees have access to the guidance, care, and support of the chaplain. Chaplains keep an “open-door closed mouth” policy. After all most staff chaplains are ordained ministers and are a trustworthy confidante. A chaplain can be of any religion or gender, but they do not push their own religion or values on anyone. They are trained to meet people where they are at, ask questions and hear what is said and what is not being said in order to assist and to guide.    

     Did you know that studies show that over 75% of people hospitalized would like to see a chaplain. Research also discovered patients who see a chaplain while hospitalized report a greater satisfaction with their hospital stays and are discharged sooner with less complications than those who do not meet with a chaplain. Studies also reveal that staff members who talk to a chaplain as little as 1 to 3 minutes a week have more job satisfaction and view their workplace less stressful. Amazing!

     Below is a quick overview of what was just discussed. I hope you learned something new about the role of the hospital chaplain. Thanks for hanging out with me. Read. Share. Comment!

The chaplain is: 1) Trained and educated usually has a master’s degree, 2) Ordained, 3) Board Certified, 4) Grief and bereavement counselor, 5) Family counselor, 6) Staff counselor, 7) Presurgical and postsurgical counselor, 8) Communicates well, 9) Professional Listener, 10) Faith support, 11) Religious leader, 12) Non-judgmental, 13) Tolerant, 14) First responder, 15) Crisis trained, 16) End-of-life care expert, 17) Compassionate, 18) Emotionally and spiritually open, 19) Available 24/7, 20) A calm presence in crisis.