Chaplain Associate

GENERAL SUMMARY:

Advances the health of individuals and the effectiveness of Bryan Medical Center by providing caring and competent pastoral care. Assesses and provides for the emotional and spiritual needs of patients, families, employees, and volunteers, particularly in times of spiritual distress brought on by life-threatening or life-altering medical diagnoses, procedures, and events. Provides age-specific and developmentally appropriate pastoral care, including ministry of presence, prayer, sacraments/ordinances/rituals, and time-limited pastoral counseling similar to “brief therapy.”

PRINCIPAL JOB FUNCTIONS

• *Commits to our mission, vision, beliefs, and consistently demonstrates our core values.
• *Demonstrates active listening, cultural competence, and emotional intelligence in all interactions with patients, families, and staff.
• *Provides a non-anxious presence, facilitates communication, and acts as a liaison between hospital staff and family or friends of patients during periods of crisis, such as death, critical illness, or lengthy surgery. Provides emotional and spiritual support to staff, patients, and their families.
• *Makes routine rounds on assigned patient care areas, while remaining flexible to work at either hospital as needed, assessing and providing for the spiritual and emotional needs of patients and families who may be experiencing spiritual distress or crisis or who have identified high-risk spiritual care indicators; offers ministry of presence, prayer, sacraments/ordinances/rituals, and pastoral counsel consistent with the spiritual and religious backgrounds of the patient and family.
• *Effectively provides crisis and trauma intervention pastoral care services to patients and their families.
• *Responds to BRRT, Code Blue, and Code Trauma pages and staff calls per Pastoral Care Policy when on duty.
• Conducts patient/family therapeutic/educational groups as assigned.
• Provides pastoral counseling in matters associated with spirituality, i.e., meaning and purpose in life, healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
• Directly performs or indirectly provides traditional pastoral services, such as prayer, sacraments/ordinances/rituals, or other special services; provides non-denominational services as needed to promote spiritual wellbeing.
• Provides support to staff through daily rounds and participates in crisis/critical incident debriefing sessions with staff after crisis/high stress situations as requested by leadership.
• Offers prayer support at hospital-sponsored events as assigned.
• *Maintains accurate and timely documentation of pastoral care functions in patient medical records.
• May be assigned as a Notary and may separately assist patients in completing Advance Healthcare Directives and other non-financial paperwork. If a Notary complies with all state laws and hospital policies regarding notarization.
• Participates in the Chaplain On-Call Calendar as assigned.
• Serves the Pastoral Care team through managing/scheduling chaplain coverage, preparation/setup for pastoral care events/activities/projects, and other administrative tasks as directed by the Pastoral Care Supervisor.
• *Maintains familiarity and compliance with Pastoral Care Policy at all times.
• Maintains professional growth and development through seminars, workshops, and professional affiliations to keep abreast of latest trends in field of expertise.
• Participates in meetings, committees and department projects as assigned.
• Performs other related projects and duties as assigned.

(Essential Job functions are marked with an asterisk “*.”)

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Knowledge of theological and psychological practices and methods.
• Knowledge of varied religious practices and philosophies, so as to relate effectively with a wide variety of individuals with various education, social, cultural, economic and vocational backgrounds.
• Knowledge of active listening, cultural competence, and emotional intelligence as it applies to providing pastoral care in a hospital setting.
• Knowledge of computer hardware equipment and software applications relevant to work functions.
• Ability to collaborate with care and competence as a team member with other chaplains, physicians, medical staff, employees, patients and professional colleagues.
• Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to adapt to a flexible work schedule in order to meet the demanding job requirements.
• Ability to prioritize work demands and work with minimal supervision.
• Ability to perform crucial conversations with desired outcomes.
• Ability to problem solve and engage independent critical thinking skills.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality relevant to sensitive information.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment related to changing patient needs including working with patients with acute, complex disease processes and those who are dying.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with other team members, physicians and patient/family members.
• Ability to respond to on-call codes and calls when on duty according to Pastoral Care Policy.
• Ability to maintain regular and punctual attendance.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

Accredited degree related to ministry preferred. One (1) unit of Clinical Pastoral Education preferred. Letter of reference from a faith community required. Two (2) years of ministry experience required.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

(Physical Requirements are based on federal criteria and assigned by Human Resources upon review of the Principal Job Functions.)

(DOT) – Characterized as light work requiring lifting no more than 20 pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing up to 10 pounds. Frequent and long periods of walking and standing.

Requires ability to move between facilities, patient rooms, and medical center departments in order to meet patient, family, and staff needs.

Updated 11082016