Hospice Chaplain

**Schedule:**
Typical hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with flexibility for urgent patient or family needs. This autonomous role involves managing your schedule, coordinating care, and overseeing a caseload of 30 to 60 patients based on hospice guidelines and patient needs.


**What You’ll Be Doing:**

* As a Hospice Chaplain, you will provide emotional and spiritual support to patients and families navigating serious illness and end-of-life experiences, spending much of your day visiting patients in homes, assisted living facilities, skilled nursing facilities, independent living communities, and hospice care settings.

You will:

* Facilitate conversations about their life experiences, spiritual needs, personal values, and end-of-life journeys.
* Provide prayer, scripture, religious readings, music, or spiritual practices when requested.
* Support caregivers and family members through difficult conversations, anticipatory grief, and the challenges surrounding end-of-life care.
* Assess emotional, spiritual, and psychosocial needs, communicate findings to the care team, and participate in memorial services or bereavement support activities as appropriate.
* A major part of this role involves care coordination and advocacy by:
* Collaborating with community clergy, priests, rabbis, pastors, and other spiritual leaders.
* Communicate and collaborate with nurses, social workers, facility staff, and caregivers while serving as a resource and advocate for patients by sharing observations, addressing concerns, and supporting care planning.
* You will manage ongoing documentation and communication responsibilities, including:
* Review the EMR for patient updates, referrals, tasks, and information needed to schedule visits.
* Manage communication and documentation through phone calls, email, EMR charting, facility communication logs, and coordination with the care team.
* Communicate patient updates, concerns, and bereavement follow-up to the care team and families.
* You will participate as an active member of the Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) by:
* Attending required IDT meetings and agency meetings.
* Providing centering moments through prayer, reflection, poems, or remembrance activities.
* Collaborating with nurses, social workers, physicians, CNAs, and volunteers to coordinate patient care.
* Supporting team members during challenging situations and losses.
* Your day will be highly flexible and require constant prioritization by:
* Managing travel between locations.
* Balancing patient visits, phone calls, documentation, and schedule adjustments to meet urgent patient needs.
* Coordinating multiple requests from patients, families, facilities, and team members throughout the day.

**What We’re Looking For:**
**Education:**
Bachelor’s degree in theology or divinity, and at least one unit of Clinical Pastoral education or its equivalent preferred but not required. Counseling education is desirable.


**Licensure / Certifications:**
Professional license/certification preferred, but not required upon employment.


**Experience:**
At least 2 years of experience in pastoral care, counseling, or the ministry, preferably in a health care setting.


**Essential Technical / Motor Skills:**
Ability to speak clearly to communicate with patients and families regarding spiritual care needs. Literate in the English language. Basic counseling skills, including the ability to listen and assist severely distressed individuals on a daily basis. Ability to safely travel throughout the geographic area. Ability to learn computerized documentation requirements, using the laptop on a daily basis.


**Interpersonal Skills:**
Strong team interaction skills. Strong verbal and written communication skills and listening skills. Ability to develop positive interactions with team, clients, and the general public within a short period of time. Highly motivated


**Essential Physical Requirements:**
Daily riding/driving in the assigned geographic area. Sitting, walking, climbing stairs, writing, and using the computer daily. Ability to access patient/family homes which may have obstacles making access difficult (i.e. steep stairs, broken sidewalks, dark hallways, broken down porches, etc.)Self-disciplined, flexible, and positive attitude.


**Essential Mental Abilities:**
Ability to assess client’s needs for chaplain services, formulate care plans, select appropriate interventions, evaluate the family’s response to interventions. Ability to maintain active attention and to maintain short and long term memory. Ability to utilize basic mathematics skills. Ability to organize and complete work assignments within the agency time requirements.


**Essential Sensory Requirements:**
Hearing and sight needed for driving to/from and accessing homes of clients.


**Exposure to Hazards:**
Abilities to withstand allergens such as dust, smoke, cigarette/cigar smoke, fumes. May be exposed to blood or body fluids. May be exposed to dangerous animals and traffic hazards while home visiting. May encounter temperature extremes and weather extremes.


**Other - Hours of Work:**
Hours may include some evening and weekend work. Generally, the work runs from 8-5, Monday to Friday. For a 1.0 FTE, the average work week is 40 hours of work.


**Population Served:**
Families of LCFL patients within a specific geographic area.


**Driving:**
Will be required to drive. Must have reliable transportation. Will be subject to the Safe Driver Policy.