Hospice Chaplain

Scope:

• Provide pastoral care to Hospice clients and their loved ones and as appropriate, Hospice staff. Learn and understand who each client is as a person, his/her concerns, needs, and wishes and minister according to their desires to ensure that their religious and spiritual needs are met. Serve as an active member of the Interdisciplinary Group.
• Work closely with Hospice staff, clients and their families. In regular contact with various community clergy. Make home visits and/or attend funerals as necessary.
• Adopts communication styles appropriate to the listeners and situation. Listens actively, asks questions, clarifies points and rephrases others' statements to check mutual understanding. Modifies communication in response to feedback from listeners. Demonstrates an ability to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, and of others. Demonstrates an appreciation of the differences in how others feel about things.

Key Responsibilities:

• Pastoral Care Programming - Provide spiritual support to patients and their families, including prayer, life review, life resolution and connect them to spiritual care resources in the community. Responsible for developing relationships with community clergy and for connecting patients and families back to their churches and pastors as needed. Provide spiritual care support to staff and volunteers. Develop and maintain a resource group of clergies to whom specific aspects of spiritual care may be delegated. Involved in Interdisciplinary Team meetings (IDT). Lead and train volunteers involved in Associate Chaplains Program a volunteer-based program that enhances compassion for clients at their end-of-life and their families.
• Learn and Provide for Each Client's Concerns, Needs, Hopes and Fears - Assess client and family spiritual needs and assist families in using their faith to deal with illness (including terminal), trauma, and stress; visit clients upon request in in their homes and/or residential communities (independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing care facilities). Provide crisis intervention as necessary. Document patient and family services provided. Visit with clients individually and assess his/her preference in spiritual care. Assist in the development in the interdisciplinary team/group plan of care as needed. Maintain an awareness of client's spiritual involvement and when appropriate, contact client's congregational clergy to inform of special needs.
• Other Duties as Assigned - The duties and responsibilities listed above are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and are not necessarily all inclusive.

Reports To:

Director of Hospice

Education and Experience Required:

• Must complete and pass a state required background study.
• Endorsement standards: Must have congregation of service of 3 years. Must have a bachelor’s and Graduate degree in Theology. Board Certified Chaplain (BCC) certification is preferred. Must have two units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) or equivalent (one unit of CPE emphasizing ministry with the elderly is desirable). Must have a certificate of competence or be eligible for certification, preferably through recognized professional chaplain organizations; such as Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) or the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC) is acceptable.
• Must have strong oral and written communication skills, be able to maintain confidential information, possess organizational skills, and have an ability to express a warmth and friendliness to patients/residents, family, staff and volunteers. Must be sensitive to a variety of patients/residents and their individual concerns and issues.
• Able to physically perform the duties required by the position.
• Required to have the ability to read, write and speak English well enough to communicate with staff, residents and visitors.