Staff Chaplain

Yale New Haven Health•New Haven, CT

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Chaplains are responsible for direct emotional, spiritual, religious, and existential support for all patients, their loved ones, and staff ' for those who are religious and those who are not. Chaplains are trained to make a spiritual assessment from which support, pastoral care, sacramental support, referrals and other spiritual or emotional interventions are provided. The chaplain is also responsible for initiating and implementing new methods of addressing patients', their loved ones, and hospital employees emotional and spiritual needs and for collaborating with other members of the health care team to communicate and coordinate care. As time permits, the chaplain also assists in educational programming within the department, hospital and wider community.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree
Masters of Divinity degree or its equivalent strongly preferred; if a Masters of Divinity or equivalent is not held, the candidate must have met the educational requirements to become an Associate Chaplain in APC, NACC, or NAJC (or equivalent) and be progressing toward associate chaplain or chaplain board certification.
Chaplain has official recognition of ministry, such as ordination, acceptable to Association of Professional Chaplains (APC), National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC), National Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC), or comparable national chaplaincy certification agencies; also endorsement for institutional ministry by ecclesiastical authority; also at least four (4) units (1600 hours) of ACPE, Inc. accredited Clinical Pastoral Education.
Two (2) to three (3) years of pastoral experience is recommended, including work in a secular institution within an multi-faith framework and where relationship with patients and their families is an on-going activity.
Demonstrated emotional and spiritual maturity sufficient to work in a crisis setting, and demonstrated skills in pastoral care in an institutional setting.

Responsibilities

Responsible for direct ministry to patients and families and support for staff on particular services and in-patient units or for a portion of the patient population such as a faith group, including assuming periodic on-call coverage for the entire hospital.
Provide for all aspects of ministry including: spiritual assessment and the provision of pastoral care, administration of the sacraments, pastoral visitation and counseling on own initiative and in response to referrals, with particular attention to ministry to persons in crisis, with life-threatening illness, near end-of-life and at the time of death, and to their families and friends.
Carry out duties in collaboration with other hospital staff and participate in interdisciplinary communication and coordination of care by attending team meetings and patient/family care conferences, and through appropriate verbal and written reports on patient care.
Document spiritual assessments, goals and interventions in the Medical Record (electronic and/or hard copy) and contribute to department record-keeping in terms of responses to referrals, on-call encounters, baptisms, etc.
Provide, assist, and/or arrange for hospital-wide worship services on Sundays, holidays and for special occasions, and provide for service or unit level memorial and other services for staff on request.
Assist in hospital educational programs, including those within the department such as orientation programs, clinical conferences, pastoral care institutes, or sessions involving religious and health matters (ie faith group practices, age-specific spiritual needs, clinical ethics, etc.)
Mentor Clinical Pastoral Education students and supervise volunteers, trainees or staff, who are assisting in the provision of pastoral care in particular patient care areas,
Assist in developing policies and procedures, with particular attention to the assigned section of the Hospital or to that faith group, that will foster high quality patient and family care, good interdisciplinary team relationships and religious community relationships.
Maintain ecclesiastical and professional cognate group relationships and maintain professional competence by participating in continuing education programs and peer review.
As required, perform other pastoral and administrative duties necessary to provide religious guidance relating to total patient care and staff support.