Chaplain

Wellstar Health System • Magnolia, AR

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The mission of Wellstar's Department of Spiritual Health is to impact the healing experience by offering compassionate presence and bringing hope to patients and residents, families, staff, and community, evidencing our commitment to the health and well-being of the whole person mind, body, and spirit. The clinically trained professional Chaplain has the primary responsibilities of offering spiritual health care and emotional support to patients/residents and their families/support systems, inclusive of all faith traditions and chosen spiritual paths, utilizing their expertise and advanced knowledge of spiritual health. The Chaplain will perform spiritual assessments; develop individualized care plans that include patient care goals; offer spiritual interventions based on their knowledge and discretion including sacraments and rituals as appropriate; collaborate with the multidisciplinary team to positively impact the patient's plan of care; and offer beginning-of-life and end-of-life support and legacy work to the patient/resident and bereavement support to the patient's family/support system. The Chaplain will work closely with the larger faith community to create a network of support to best meet the religious and spiritual needs of patients, residents, families, and team members. The Chaplain will offer support to team members, including education on self-care and compassion fatigue. The Chaplain is required to participate in the on-call rotation on a regular basis, as determined by the site-specific needs.

Requirements

• Masters Theology
• Board Certification (BCC) with the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC), Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC), the National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC), or the National Association of Veterans Affairs Chaplains (NAVAC). Must complete BCC within 24-months of hire.
• Minimum 2 years of experience in spiritual health (or the equivalent) in a health care setting (may include 1 year of CPE Residency).
• Exceptional spiritual assessment and advisement skills.
• Demeanor becoming of a professional chaplain and spiritual leader.
• Demonstrated ability to perform spiritual assessments, determine appropriate spiritual interventions, and effectively offer spiritual health support to persons of diverse systems of beliefs and values.
• Create staff support interventions to reduce burnout and compassion fatigue.
• Proficient in crisis triaging.
• Ability to perform at a high level in stressful and emotionally charged situations.
• Demonstrate resiliency working in the arenas of loss and grief.
• Ability to function with a high degree of independence and self-direction.
• Working knowledge of health care organizations and biomedical ethics.
• Competent in Microsoft Office programs.

Nice To Haves

• Ordination or Licensure for ministry by a recognized faith group Upon Hire Preferred
• Experience with EMR (electronic medical record) documentation preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide spiritual, religious, and emotional care to patients, residents, families, and their support systems, irrespective of faith tradition or spiritual path.
• Perform spiritual assessments to gather and evaluate the spiritual/religious, emotional, and social needs, hopes, and resources of patients/residents and their family; determine appropriate spiritual interventions, including rituals/sacraments, spiritual support, reflection, advisement, crisis intervention, and bereavement support; identify potential obstacles for the delivery of effective spiritual care.
• Function as advocate for the patient/resident/family; identify and interpret the impact of cultural beliefs and practices on the plan of care.
• Offer emotional support and perform legacy work with patients nearing end-of-life; provide bereavement support to families; identify anticipatory grief and provide resource assistance with navigating decedent care arrangements, as needed.
• Facilitate advance care planning with patients/residents and their families/support systems.
• Document in EMR (electronic medical record) all spiritual health encounters and interventions to ensure continuity and cohesiveness in care.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary team on the care plan to ensure spiritual health support and care; contribute to the well-being of patients/residents and their family/support system, including attendance at IDRs (interdisciplinary rounds).
• Participate in on-call rotation (including evenings, overnights, weekends, and holidays) on a regular basis, as determined by site-specific needs; required of all chaplains.
• Provide spiritual, religious, and emotional care to team members or their family members following a death, regardless of faith tradition, spiritual path, heritage, or culture, including, debriefings, crisis intervention, support, and memorial services, etc.
• Design and offer education on self-care for the professional caregiver.
• Serve as a subject matter expert and educate physicians and clinical staff regarding spiritual, religious, existential, and/or cultural components that influence beliefs/values which impact the decision-making process and care goals.
• Collaborate with ethics team to provide learning experiences for medical Residents in the realm of spiritual health, including crucial decision-making conversations, sensitivity to religious beliefs, and cultural/personal values impacting goals of care.
• Foster collaborative relationships with community clergy and faith group leaders to meet the diverse religious and spiritual health needs of patients, residents, their families/support systems, and team members.
• Contact community clergy or religious leaders as needed for specific faith traditions rites, sacraments, ordinances, spiritual practices, or for consultation.
• Support community clergy in the visitation of their own congregants.
• Collaborate with spiritual health volunteers, representative of a diversity of faith traditions, to meet the spiritual health needs of patients, residents, their families/support systems, and team members.
• Assume leadership responsibility for spiritual health initiatives such as spiritual health Volunteer Program; Ethics Committee and other committees; emergency management and crisis intervention; facilitation of support groups; spiritual health continuing education for faith communities, civic organizations, and clinicians; mentoring of CPE students; and orientation of new spiritual health team members.
• Participate in performance and quality improvement projects, data gathering, and strategic initiatives to support system and local site level spiritual health daily operations and growth.
• Develop, coordinate, and officiate chapel and prayer services, as well as services of remembrance and celebration, appropriate to diverse faith traditions, various settings, and site-specific/community needs.
• Maintain a working knowledge of trends in the field of spiritual health and Joint Commission requirements, ensuring compliance with evidenced-based practice.
• Attend department meetings at local site and at system level, including continuing education opportunities.
• Adhere to current national standards and guidelines for Hospice Chaplaincy as directed by NHPCO (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization), CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), and Joint Commission.
• Performs other duties as assigned
• Complies with all Wellstar Health System policies, standards of work, and code of conduct.

Benefits

• support to do more meaningful work—and enjoy a more rewarding life
• Connect with the most integrated health system in Georgia, and start a future that gives you more.
• Nationally ranked and locally recognized for our high-quality care and inclusive culture, Wellstar is one of Georgia’s largest and most integrated healthcare systems.
• Every day, 24,000+ of us work together to provide personalized care for patients at every age and stage of life – and our team members are the foundation of that care.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees