The important role of Spiritual Care in the clinical setting

BEST PRACTICES FURTHER ENHANCE CHAPLAINS’ VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO PATIENT CARE

The COVID-19 pandemic and research-driven data have affirmed the critical role of chaplains and other Spiritual Care providers as an integral part of caring for patients, their families and associates. Now, research is helping guide chaplains so their documentation can best contribute to positive patient outcomes.

Last September, Ascension officially designated the chaplain position as a clinical associate role. This recognition of the value of Spiritual Care encounters allows chaplains to interface more intentionally with other interdisciplinary team members to provide impactful care, and demonstrates their value as part of the clinical care team.

Chaplains provide assessments and plans of care just as other clinical staff members do. Like other acute care clinical associates, they make detailed notes in patient charts after visits.

To ensure that these notes are clear, beneficial and providing value for other interdisciplinary team members, Ascension’s Spiritual Care and Marketing and Communications teams worked together to survey providers who have access to chaplain notes. “Our goal was to help ensure that chaplains’ notes contribute to the best outcomes for those we serve. The information we gathered from this survey is helping guide best practices for chaplain documentation moving forward,” said Antonina Olszewski, Vice President, Spiritual Care, Ascension. Based on that research, chaplains across Ascension have begun adopting these best practices in patient charting, further enhancing their value to patients, families and co-workers.

“We continue to look for new ways to broaden and deepen the understanding of the subject matter expertise our chaplains possess and the unique and invaluable contributions they make every day for our patients, for their loved ones and for our interdisciplinary clinical care teams,” said Tom VanOsdol, Executive Vice President and Chief Mission Integration Officer, Ascension.