The professional pastoral/spiritual care services of an HCMA Board Certified Chaplain (BCC) or Certified Clinical Chaplain (CCC) provide several distinct benefits to a healthcare facility.
Patient Well-Being Is Improved
- Professional Chaplains play an integral role in supporting and strengthening patients’ religious and spiritual beliefs and practices, which help them feel better and get better.
Patient/Family Satisfaction Is Enhanced
- Chaplains enhance the image of the healthcare organization as they provide these spiritual services.
- In an age of high medical technology, brief hospitalizations, and shortened contacts with physicians and other healthcare professionals, Chaplains offer one of the few opportunities for patients and families to discuss their personal and spiritual concerns.
- People who are satisfied with the spiritual care provided during their hospitalization are more likely to return to that institution again for future medical care and are more likely to recommend the facility to others. Spiritual Abuse Is Avoided
- Codes of professional ethics stipulate that Chaplains themselves must respect the diverse beliefs and practices of patients and families.
Staff Retention and Productivity Is Improved
- Chaplains provide sensitive, supportive spiritual care to patients and family during potentially stressful times for staff (e.g., terminal illness, codes, death, oncology, etc.), thereby allowing these medical specialists to attend to their primary duties.
Risk Management and Litigation Is Mitigated
- Chaplains play an important role in mitigating situations of patient/family dissatisfaction involving risk management and potential litigation.
Valuable Assistance in Death Care
- Our chaplains are highly trained to deal with grieving families
- The spiritual care provided to families near or at the time of death helps free the healthcare staff to do their job.
Accreditation Standards Are Met
- Chaplains help healthcare organizations fulfill a variety of accreditation standards of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO), including those associated with patient’s rights for spiritual care and support.
- When JCAHO comes to survey a healthcare facility, it reflects positively on the institution when they have a professionally competent Chaplain on staff.
Medical Ethics Support Is Improved
- Chaplains help patients and family members identify their values regarding end-of-life treatment choices and communicate this information to the healthcare staff.
- Families respond better and in a timelier manner to end-of-life situations when Chaplain support is provided.
Community Relations Are Enhanced
- Some people choose a healthcare facility because of the spiritual care provided.
Chaplains establish and maintain important relationships with the community clergy, who often make referrals of their parish people to the hospital.
