Chaplain - PRN

At Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital, the Chaplain PRN provides spiritual care to meet the spiritual, religious, emotional, and psychological needs of patients, their family members, employees, visitors, and physicians.

Responsibilities

• Provide spiritual care support for Houston Methodist patients, family members, employees, visitors, and physicians.
• Conduct initial spiritual care assessments and follow-up visits with patients.
• Follow established patient care plans, proactively identifying when a change in approach or intervention is necessary and taking appropriate action.
• Work independently, exercising sound judgment and critical thinking in challenging situations while collaborating with peers.
• Assist leadership in carrying out the Houston Methodist mission, vision, and values.
• Facilitate a supportive and positive environment for patients, family members, visitors, employees, and physicians.
• Provide spiritual care to meet the needs of patients of all faiths, particularly for pre-operative, critically ill, and dying patients.
• Enable patients and others to utilize their own faith as a resource for health and healing.
• Serve as a liaison with community clergy, local congregations, and denominational groups.
• Provide crisis intervention for patients, family members, visitors, employees, and physicians.
• Participate in interprofessional health team rounds and proactively identify needs for intervention.
• Document patient visits and spiritual care provided accurately in the patient’s record.
• Consult with physicians, clinical management, and hospital leadership to assess the quality and safety of services provided.
• Identify opportunities for corrective action and improvement, providing recommendations to meet department and hospital targets.
• Manage time effectively, prioritize daily tasks, and demonstrate responsible financial stewardship.
• Participate in and lead various department and hospital-wide activities, such as worship services, I CARE values integration, and accreditation readiness.
• Assist with special projects and serve on hospital committees as identified.
• Serve as a mentor to CPE students and spiritual care volunteers.
• Orient and precept new chaplains as assigned.
• Recommend initiatives to improve department scores for employee engagement and patient satisfaction.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in a related field.
• Four units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) from institution(s) accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC), or the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (CASC).
• One year of experience, which may be consecutive with completion of CPE units.
• Endorsed for chaplaincy by a recognized endorsing body.
• Demonstrated skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job.
• Proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing English to perform essential job functions.
• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members, and coworkers in a customer service-focused manner.
• Basic computer knowledge to operate various systems for patient documentation.
• Strong interpersonal and team player skills with all levels of the healthcare team.
• Ability to adapt to multiple ongoing priorities with minimal supervision.

Qualifications

• Preferred certification as a Board Certified Chaplain (BCCI, APC, NACC, Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains, CASC, or Associate Clinical Pastoral Educator) within 3 years, or BCC by another nationally recognized chaplain certifying body with comparable qualifications.

Schedule

• PRN (as needed) position.
• On-call requirements during emergencies (e.g., disaster, severe weather events).