Chaplain Associate

GENERAL SUMMARY:

Advances the health of individuals and the effectiveness of Bryan Medical Center by providing caring and competent pastoral care. Supports the ongoing efforts of Bryan's Chaplains by assessing and providing for the emotional and spiritual needs of patients, families, and employees as assigned. 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:

1. *Commits to the mission, vision, beliefs and consistently demonstrates our core values.

2. *Effectively provides crisis and trauma intervention pastoral care services to patients and their families.

3. *Responds to BRRT, Code Blues and Code Trauma calls per facility procedures when present.

4. *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.

5. Participates in the Chaplain's on-call schedule as assigned.

6. 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.

7. Participates in weekly multi-disciplinary team meetings.

8. Conducts assigned patient/family therapeutic/educational groups.

9. Offers prayer support at hospital-sponsored events.

10. Serves as a Notary, assisting patients in completing Advance Healthcare Directives and other paperwork as able.

11. Performs or makes arrangements for traditional pastoral care, such as prayer, sacramental ministry and other special services.

12. Provides pastoral counseling in matters associated with spirituality, i.e. meaning and purpose in life, healing, forgiveness and reconciliation.

13. *Maintains accurate and timely documentation of pastoral care functions in patient medical records.

14. *Demonstrates active listening, cultural competence, and emotional intelligence in all interactions with patients, families, and staff.

15. 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.

16. Maintains professional growth and development through seminars, workshops, and professional affiliations to keep abreast of latest trends in field of expertise.

17. Participates in meetings, committees and department projects as assigned.

18. Performs other related projects and duties as assigned.

(Essential Job functions are marked with an asterisk "*". Refer to the Job Description Guide for the definition of essential and non-essential job functions.) Attach Addendum for positions with slightly different roles or work-specific differences as needed.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

1. Knowledge of theological and psychological practices and methods.

2. 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.

3. Knowledge of active listening, cultural competence, and emotional intelligence as it applies to providing pastoral care in a hospital setting.

4. Knowledge of computer hardware equipment and software applications relevant to work functions.

5. Ability to collaborate with care and competence as a team member with physicians, medical staff, employees, patients and professional colleagues.

6. Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.

7. Ability to adapt to a flexible work schedule in order to meet the demanding job requirements.

8. Ability to prioritize work demands and work with minimal supervision.

9. Ability to maintain confidentiality relevant to sensitive information.

10. 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.

11. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with other team members, physicians and patient/family members.

12. Ability to respond to on-call requests within 20 minutes.

13. 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.

OTHER CREDENTIALS / CERTIFICATIONS:

None

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

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

(DOT) - Characterized as sedentary work requiring exertion up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects, including the human body.