Spiritual Health Practitioner

Summary

JOB SUMMARY:Reporting to the Director of Spiritual Health and Pastoral Care (SHPC), the Spiritual Health Practitioner works in collaboration with the interdisciplinary teams on assigned clinical units. The Practitioner’s role is to assess spiritual needs and provide comprehensive spiritual care and emotional support to patients, families and health care staff in a manner that is appropriate to belief systems and cultural diversity.Position attends and participates in program based care team meetings and collaborates with spiritual/cultural representatives and clergy in the community. Provides spiritual and emotional support to staff during times of crisis, mentors and supports volunteer visitors who provide ministry to patients/residents and provides support as a preceptor to Clinical Psychospiritual Education students. Supports patients, residents and their families who are considering, or who are engaged in, end of life conversations. Participates in sharing on-call and/or back-up on-call duties, as required, and is available to respond to organizational emergencies.QUALIFICATIONS:Education, Training and ExperienceA relevant Master’s degree in Theology, Public and Pastoral Leadership, Spiritual Practices or other relevant theological/spiritual studies from an accredited theological institution, plus Clinical Psychospiritual Education (CPE) with two advanced units, and preferably a certified spiritual health practitioner with CASC/ACSS.Current membership in good standing in CASC.Continuing good standing in a spiritual, religious or faith community affiliated with one’s chosen tradition.Skills and AbilitiesDemonstrated ability to engage counselling theories, interventions, and intentional supportive activities to support patients, residents, and their families, and the ability to quickly identify the appropriate spiritual health practice in order to meet expressed or unexpressed needs.Demonstrated ability to engage in crisis intervention as required, such as attending Code Blues or other critical incidents.Ability to navigate electronic medical record (Cerner), pagers, and other communication channels.Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills.Demonstrated ability to support all expressions of spirituality without imposing personal religious beliefs.Demonstrated ability to approach spiritual health issues in a person-centered manner with insight, discernment and flexibility.Demonstrated ability to effectively handle stressful situations with sensitivity, compassion, gentleness, caring and approachability.Demonstrated ability to work in accordance with Providence Health Care’s Mission, Vision and Values.Demonstrated ability to work as a member of an interdisciplinary team.Ability to work flexible hours.Ability to organize and prioritize work and activities.Physical ability to perform the duties of the position.Assesses, and provides comprehensive spiritual and emotional support through counseling and supportive presence at times of anxiety, loss, death, and other spiritual and existential distress, to inspire strength, courage and hope to patients/residents/families according to their stated beliefs and practices.Promotes the on-going spiritual well-being of patients/residents through listening, prayer and group support such as Memorial Services, spirituality groups, Study of Sacred text and Hymn Sing.Attends and participates in program-based care team meetings, rounds, huddles, case conferences, family meetings, ethics consults, and other meetings as required.Receives referrals from all disciplines and responds in a timely manner. Creates and implements follow up plans as required. Makes referrals to other disciplines, when appropriate, based on the needs of patients and residents.Consistently documents in patient/resident medical records where spiritual assessments and significant interventions are recorded to ensure other members of the interdisciplinary care team are properly informed.Collaborates with spiritual/cultural representatives and clergy in the community, when requested by patients and residents and supports religious/spiritual leaders and faith specific volunteer visitors in their ministry.Provides spiritual and emotional support to staff during times of crisis, by active listening, supportive presence for spiritual enrichment, and at times, conducting rituals/memorials/debriefing when there has been death of a patient/resident/staff member.Maintains daily record of spiritual care activity offered to patients/residents and staff and submits these on a timely basis, as required.Mentors and supports volunteer visitors who provide ministry to patients/residents through religious/spiritual visits and participation in group events.Provides support as a preceptor to Clinical Psychospiritual Education students, including on-site orientation, ongoing support, coaching conversations, and providing feedback to the student and educator.Plans and participates in facility-wide celebrations, such as Worship Services and Memorial Services for individuals or groups.Encourages staff awareness of, and respect for, different expressions of spirituality through in-services and one-on-one conversations. Encourages staff to be aware of the strength that a patient/resident can experience through their beliefs and practices.Is aware of the sensitivities of MAiD requests within Catholic Health and responds within these expectations, to provide support to patients, residents and families.Participates in sharing on-call and/or back-up on-call duties, as required. Available to respond to organizational emergencies (Code Orange, Psychosocial Disaster Response Team, etc.) and act as a liaison during crisis intervention.Participates in Spiritual Health and Pastoral Care team activities, including team meetings, Spiritual Health Awareness Week, retreats and huddles.Provides all spiritual health support in accordance with the expectations of Catholic Healthcare principles and Health Ethics Guidelines. Participates in an organization’s clinical ethics discussions/reviews.Engages in research projects and opportunities both within and outside of the department.Performs other related duties as required.

Job Accuracy Posting Flag

The hours of work, including start and stop times, days off, work area and work site may be subject to change consistent with operations requirements and applicable provisions of the Collective Agreement and statutes. **Testing may be required. ***A criminal record check may be required