Supporting staff: The role of health care chaplains

Chaplain care for health care colleagues: a scoping review

In addition to supporting patients and their loved ones at critical times, chaplains have long understood that caring for their health care colleagues is an important part of their practice. The Covid-19 pandemic prompted conversations among chaplains about how best to address the stress they were observing in health care workers. Our team conducted a scoping review in PubMed and CINAHL of peer reviewed literature describing chaplaincy care for health care workers. We started with 364 unique articles and found 59 that met criteria for the review. Five themes surfaced in analysis of these articles, with two themes emerging as most important: (1) descriptions of care for staff as part of the chaplain's role, especially when staff are making difficult decisions and (2) reports of the effects of chaplain care for staff, both indirect and direct. We discovered that research was limited, and more research is needed regarding chaplain care for health care colleagues.

Chaplaincy and outpatient cancer care in a faith-based health system: lessons learned when imbedding two full time chaplain positions in a cancer institute with a faith-based heritage

There is interest in chaplains devoted to outpatient cancer care, informed by a growing body of research as well as recommendations of accreditors. Simultaneously, a growing share of U.S. healthcare is faith-based and possesses a foundational interest in religious/spiritual (R/S) care due to institutional culture. In that milieu, few articles describe how religious organizational cultures influence the creation and implementation of FTEs intended to meet the evidence-based recommendations of accreditors. This is a lacuna, given that board certified chaplains are measured on their ability to integrate spiritual care into the life and service of their institutions. In response, this article describes the creation and implementation of two chaplain positions devoted to a group of outpatient cancer clinics in a large Catholic healthcare system. This includes lessons learned when navigating R/S aspects of organizational cultures while implementing and executing chaplain practice to meet accreditor recommendations.

Twice-in-a-Lifetime Pandemics: An Exploratory Qualitative Life-History Analysis of the Longitudinal Experiences of Hospital Chaplains Who Served During Both the Early AIDS (1981-1995) and Early COVID-19 (2020-2021) Pandemics in the USA and United Kingdom

The aim of this study was to document the longitudinal experiences of chaplains who served during both the early AIDS (1981-1995) and early COVID-19 (2020-2021) pandemics. A total of 11 hospital chaplains were interviewed across the USA and the United Kingdom. Interviews were analyzed using a Grounded theory approach. Chaplains reported multiple stressors during both pandemics, including barriers to integration into care teams, tensions with home religions institutions, burnout, and challenges arising from the politicization of disease. Despite these challenges, chaplains play a vital role during pandemics. Insights from their experiences can inform future strategies for compassionate crisis response.

Using Serenity Rooms and Similar Tools to Improve the Workplace during COVID-19: A Rapid Review

This manuscript examines using serenity rooms and similar tools to improve the workplace during COVID-19 for nurses and other practitioners. A rapid review of the literature was conducted and completed from four different databases, including PubMed, CINAHL, Science Direct, and Academic Search Complete. The literature review was completed with the use of a single-string Boolean search to maximize the number of articles returned. The resulting 14 germane articles yielded six facilitator themes and four barrier themes. Facilitator themes included: benefits, assistive adjuncts, places of relaxation, leadership required, availability, and other effects. Barrier themes included: lacking leadership, concerns regarding lack of space, holistic concerns, and negative perceptions. There is a significant lack of research in the literature in this area. Most of the literature reviewed showed widely positive results for institutions that utilized serenity rooms or similar tools for decreasing nurse and practitioner stress and burnout. The use of these tools improved nurse and practitioner compassion, retention, and resiliency.