Hospice Chaplain

About the Role

The Hospice Chaplain provides spiritual care services to patients and families/caregivers, either directly or by coordinating with other spiritual counselors. The role includes assessment, direct care, liaison work, documentation, and participation in interdisciplinary team activities.

Responsibilities

• Conduct spiritual assessments of patients and families/caregivers and ensure timely delivery of appropriate services.
• Participate in comprehensive assessments to develop individualized plans of care that address identified spiritual needs.
• Provide direct spiritual care to patients and families/caregivers.
• Serve as liaison and support to community chaplains and spiritual counselors.
• Maintain records of spiritual care service utilization for quality assurance, program development, and policy review.
• Document direct services and ongoing communication with community chaplains and spiritual counselors.
• Attend patient care conferences and interdisciplinary group meetings as a member of the interdisciplinary team.
• Offer consultation, education, and support to the interdisciplinary group on spiritual care matters.
• Recruit community chaplains, spiritual counselors, and volunteers; develop community contacts and provide hospice education through congregations.
• Provide funeral or memorial services for patients as requested and plan periodic memorial services for personnel, volunteers, and community clergy.
• Assist in supervising spiritual care volunteers assigned to patients/families.
• Complete, maintain, and submit accurate clinical notes regarding patient condition and care provided.
• Communicate with physicians during interdisciplinary meetings about patient needs and condition changes.
• Coordinate care plans with community spiritual counselors and act as liaison between patients/families and community agencies.
• Maintain collaborative relationships with organizational personnel to support patient care.
• Serve as a mandatory reporter, submitting required reports of abuse, neglect, or exploitation to the appropriate authorities within mandated timeframes.
• Work in concert with the interdisciplinary group to ensure continuity of spiritual care.

Additional Duties

• Participate in on‑call duties as defined by the on‑call policy.
• Engage in personal growth and professional development through continuing education, in‑service classes, and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE).
• Fulfill assigned case responsibilities and actively participate in quality assessment and performance improvement activities.
• Perform other duties as delegated.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in religious studies or a related field.
• Master’s degree in theology, divinity, or pastoral studies (minimum 72 semester hours, typically three years, may include an internship or one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education).
• Certification preferred; generally requires ordination or commissioning, a letter of endorsement from a recognized faith group, an M.A. in Theology or related subject, and four units of CPE.
• Experience in hospice care preferred.
• Comfort working in an interfaith setting and ability to respect diverse lifestyles, cultures, beliefs, and values.
• Strong networking skills with community clergy and congregations.
• Knowledge of and commitment to the hospice philosophy of care.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, organizational, and documentation skills.
• Ability to meet physical demands: prolonged walking or standing, adequate visual acuity and hearing for chaplain duties.
• Valid driver’s license, personal automobile insured and in good working order per state/organization requirements.
• Current CPR certification (hands‑on demonstration required; internet‑based certification acceptable only if skills were observed by a certified trainer).
• Successful completion of reference checks and criminal background checks as required for employment.