Spiritual Care
Spiritual Care
Spiritual care services provide for the spiritual needs of our patients and their families. Spiritual care is that aspect of health care that attends to spiritual and religious needs brought on by an illness or injury. Profound questions of the meaning of suffering and death may surface when a person is experiencing a serious illness or similar crisis of physical health, facing impending death or a radical change imposed by the loss of a body part or function.
Patients may experience panic, anxiety, depression and feelings of guilt or abandonment. They need opportunities to express spiritual concerns to an attentive listener, to bring into focus and work through their questions and doubts, and to experience hope and support for the beliefs that give them strength and consolation.
Our hospital chaplains and other spiritual care staff visit with each patient to assure their spiritual needs are being met. A chaplain is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you or your family are interested in visiting with a member of our spiritual care team, ask your nurse to contact them. The spiritual care staff will contact your own pastor if you ask them. There is a chapel open around-the-clock for prayer or private reflection located on the first floor.
Referral to the hospital chaplain or the patient's minister, priest or other spiritual guide is an important part of meeting a patient's spiritual needs, but it does not relieve health care professionals of their responsibility for continued spiritual support. Health care providers can contribute to the overall welfare of their patients by being alert for expressions of spiritual distress, listening to patients when they want to talk about spiritual concerns and reading and praying with them when appropriate.
Types of Services
Our efforts to care for the whole person means the care our chaplains provide takes a variety of forms, including:
- Presence
- Empathetic listening
- Spiritual assessment
- Grief support
- Liaison with local faith communities
- Advocacy
- Short-term counseling/guidance
- Rituals/sacraments
- Prayer
- Worship
