Addressing the emotional and spiritual needs of our patients
The lovely stained glass window that greets visitors in the Tower elevator lobby serves as both a sign marking the hospital’s newly constructed Chapel, and a symbol of the care and comfort that the Chaplaincy Services Department members offer. Whether sharing prayer, listening to a difficult story, comforting someone's fears, blessing a newborn, encouraging and supporting staff, teaching students or consulting about a challenging religious or ethical issue, each member of the department is a rich resource to patients, families, staff and employees.
Under the leadership of Reverend Maureen Young Manns, PhD, the department consists of six full- and part-time employees. The chaplains come from a variety of religious traditions including—but not limited to—Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Muslim. The chaplains provide spiritual and emotional support to patients and families while remaining sensitive to the concerns of those experiencing an illness.
Since October 2000, the Chaplaincy Services Department has had a chaplain in house and available around the clock. The on-call chaplain responds to all calls to assess the patient’s needs, provide support and help the patient to access requested religious items.
All patients are screened in both the Pre-Admitting Test Center and their inpatient unit (once admitted) to help staff identify the patients’ spiritual and emotional needs. Nurses are critical in the process of identifying patients and families who may benefit from a chaplain. In offering the service, it is important to offer “a chaplain” rather than a specific clergy person like a rabbi, priest or minister. The chaplain will assist in getting a specific clergy person when needed.
When patients request a chaplain or when a nurse or health care professional feels that additional support would be helpful, a referral can be made to the Chaplaincy staff. Chaplains visit all patients who make a request, see patients pre-operatively and make rounds on floors as time allows. They are involved in providing support to family members; assisting patients and families as they make decisions about care; providing religious rituals and sacraments like prayer, anointing, baptism and blessings; comforting and offering a human touch and compassion; leading prayer services; consulting about religious traditions and practices; and responding to other needs as they arrive. Care provided to patients by chaplains is documented in the medical record.
The initial three months of results from the Press, Ganey inpatient satisfaction survey, as well as previous results from the Picker Survey, highlight patients’ and families’ desire for more emotional and spiritual support during their hospitalization. Said Michael Gustafson, MD, director, Performance Measurement and Analysis, “The question of how well hospital staff address the emotional and spiritual needs of our patients is the highest priority hospital-wide survey question.”
Chaplains are further involved in the life of the hospital through working with members of the health care team and through involvement in committees such as Ethics, Assisted Reproductive Technology, Teamwork and Emotional Support. They also offer inservices for staff and train and supervise volunteers and students.
Each year, approximately 15,000 hours of volunteer and student time is given in the Chaplaincy department. Students come from graduate theological schools as well as congregations in the community. They participate in supervised training in chaplaincy and visit with patients and families. Volunteers also are trained to provide support, to offer communion and to reach out to those in need.
To contact a chaplain:
- Page the on-call chaplain for any emergencies at beeper 11724.
- Make a referral via the computer. Use Clinical Information, selecting Z-Chaplaincy and identifying the referral as urgent or non-urgent and describing the nature of the request.