Chaplain / Spiritual Care Coordinator Pediatrics - Per Diem

About the Role

The Pediatric Chaplain provides compassionate, family-centered spiritual care and support to pediatric patients, their parents/caregivers, and siblings. Recognizing that a serious illness affects the entire family system, the Pediatric Chaplain addresses the spiritual, emotional, cultural, and existential needs of children and their loved ones throughout the hospice journey. The role offers interdenominational and nonsectarian spiritual care that honors each family's unique beliefs, values, traditions, and sources of meaning. Services are individualized to support the developmental needs of children, promote family connection, assist with coping and adaptation, and foster hope, comfort, and resilience during times of illness, loss, and grief.

As a member of the interdisciplinary team, the Pediatric Chaplain collaborates with parents, caregivers, siblings, community clergy, faith leaders, schools, and other support systems to ensure coordinated, holistic care.

Responsibilities

• Provide spiritual assessment, counseling, ritual support, legacy-building opportunities, anticipatory grief support, end-of-life care, and bereavement interventions consistent with the wishes and belief systems of the child and family.
• Conduct comprehensive initial spiritual assessments within 5 days of admission and ongoing reassessments that identify patients' beliefs, values, sources of meaning, and spiritual needs and resources.
• Develop, implement, and update goal-directed family spiritual care plans.
• Adapt spiritual care interventions to diverse faith traditions and to those without religious affiliation.
• Recognize and respond appropriately to spiritual distress.
• Contact the patient/family's preferred spiritual advisor to ensure ongoing involvement.
• Assist patients/families in accessing spiritual care providers in accordance with their own spiritual/religious needs.
• Lead spiritually focused prayer and worship services as appropriate.
• Assist in conversations regarding end-of-life (EOL) care and meeting patient's wishes.
• Demonstrate comfort and presence during an active dying process.
• Facilitate meaningful life review and legacy work.
• Assist patients and families with unfinished business and reconciliation.
• Create sacred space in various care environments (home, facility, inpatient unit).
• Facilitate appropriate rituals and ceremonies based on patient/family preferences.
• Assist families with funeral planning; conduct funeral services/viewings as requested.
• Accurately assess grief responses and identify complicated grief risk factors.
• Provide appropriate bereavement support tailored to individual needs.
• Facilitate healthy grieving through various cultural and spiritual frameworks.
• Make appropriate referrals for complex grief situations.
• Conduct bereavement follow-up to assess the bereaved and evaluate earlier grief support.
• Support interdisciplinary team members with their own grief.
• Communicate spiritual care findings effectively to team members.
• Contribute meaningfully to care planning from a spiritual perspective.
• Respond promptly to team referrals.
• Collaborate with the team to create a therapeutic environment providing comfort and support to patients, families, and visitors.
• Provide spiritual care education to team members.
• Demonstrate knowledge of diverse religious traditions and cultural practices.
• Provide culturally sensitive support without imposing personal beliefs.
• Facilitate connections with community religious leaders appropriate to patients’ preferences.
• Create clear, concise, and meaningful spiritual care notes.
• Document measurable outcomes from spiritual interventions.
• Record all patient/family visits and telephone contacts in the medical record within 24 hours.
• Respond effectively to spiritual crises at end of life.
• Provide appropriate support during medical crises.
• Assist families through difficult decision-making processes.
• Coordinate spiritual care with community clergy to provide for needs of patients, family, and staff.
• Develop and maintain contact with community agencies and services to promote cooperation and facilitate referrals.
• Educate spiritual volunteers to be more effective with patients and families.
• Participate as an active supporter of the organization's compliance program.
• Perform on-call duties and attend monthly SCC meetings, as requested.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to support the spiritual needs of patients and families at end of life according to their faith and beliefs.
• Must be in good standing with their body of faith.
• Master’s degree in ministry from an accredited college, university, or divinity school preferred.
• Completed at least one Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) unit with an emphasis in health care ministry in addition to applicable ministerial training and experience.
• A Bachelor’s degree in ministry, theology, or a related field will be considered alongside applicable ministerial experience.
• Must complete annual education related to pediatrics.
• Demonstrated ability to be open, sensitive, flexible, and ecumenical.
• Two years’ experience in pediatric patient care setting preferred (hospice/home care/acute care hospital/residential care).
• Knowledgeable in spiritual assessments, planning, and implementation of spiritual care and community church resources.
• Ability to attend bereavement and/or community events which support organizational mission and goals.
• Ability to provide accurate, clear, and concise documentation for patient charting.
• Expertise in spiritual counseling and support, family systems, grief resolution, and ministry of ecumenical settings.
• Experience in spiritual care for the dying and bereaved preferred.
• Works effectively under stress.

Working Conditions

• OSHA Category III (involves no routine or potential exposure to blood, body fluids/tissues).
• Typing – working primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand.
• Sedentary – Exerting up to ten pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time.
• Close visual acuity required for preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing, viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading.
• May be required to perform emergency duty before, during, and/or beyond normal work hours or days in the event of an emergency, crisis situation, or disaster (man-made or natural).
• Works in a smoke-free location and is expected to adhere to all smoking restrictions.