The role of chaplaincy in hospitals

By Verah Mugambi

A hospital can be a frightening and draining place for anyone and a highstress work environment for those who work there - hospital staff. The hospital chaplain’s support alleviates that fear by providing emotional and spiritual support, also known as pastoral care.

A World Health Organization report published in 1998 acknowledged that Patients and physicians have begun to realize the value of elements such as faith, hope, and compassion in the healing process. The value of such ‘spiritual’ aspects in health and quality of life has led to research in this field to move towards a more holistic view of health that includes a non-material dimension (emphasizing the seamless connections between mind and body).

The role of the Hospital chaplain is multi-faceted. Besides providing pastoral care, chaplains can act as a go-between for patients and providers, advocate for the patient and medical staff, explain hospital processes and care to patients, and offer comfort and guidance to people experiencing their most harrowing trials. They are also an invaluable resource to hospital staff under tremendous stress, especially when challenged by extreme conditions such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Reverend John Wega, KNH’s Senior Assistant Chaplain, the holistic health of a human being entails the wholeness of the body, mind, and spirit. Spiritual care at the hospital gives the patient hope and strength, which translates to meaning in life.

“A hospital chaplain is a professionally trained clergy member who supports patients and staff with spiritual and religious concerns. They are clinically trained and attained a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) to help navigate the healthcare experience. Healthcare Chaplains are specially trained to support belief systems across faiths and cultures,” Reverend Wega explained.

Spirit and spirituality are natural dimensions of every person. Spirit implies ‘energy and power’ that emanates from the inner self. Spirituality further describes an awareness of relationships/ connectedness with all creation, an appreciation of presence and purpose that includes a sense of meaning.

“In professional chaplaincy, we say that all religious care is spiritual, but not all spiritual care is religious. Spirit is the power in you. Thus, a professional chaplain should be able to give spiritual care to all patients and staff regardless of their denomination, faith, or no faith since they are all members of the hospital community.”

“Spirituality demonstrates that persons are not merely physical bodies that require mechanical care. Persons find their spirituality helping them maintain health and cope with illnesses, traumas, losses, and life transitions by integrating body, mind, and spirit; in other words, when facing a crisis, persons often turn to their spirituality as a means of coping,” Reverend Wega continued.

There is a thin but profound line between pastoral care and spiritual care. Therefore, it is prudent to clearly distinguish between pastoral and spiritual care in a hospital setup. What patients need is spiritual healing to support their physical and mental healing.

“In professional chaplaincy, we say that all religious care is spiritual, but not all spiritual care is religious. Spirit is the power in you. Thus, a professional chaplain should be able to give spiritual care to all patients and staff regardless of their denomination, faith, or no faith since they are all members of the hospital community,” he explained further.

In healthcare chaplaincy, the hospital has equipped sacred spaces (chapels) where community members can spare time and engage in spiritual rituals like prayers, reflections, meditations, and sacraments without interfering with the hospital’s core mandate of quality patient care. In KNH, the chapels are located on the second floor (level 2) – tower block.

The practice of spiritual care is based on active listening, assessments, and intervention. Patients have inner spiritual struggles like; Why do I exist? Why am I sick? Why me? What if I die? What impact have I made in life? Does God care about me? Could God be punishing me, and for what? Why at this time? Etc.

The chaplain explores the patient’s situation to identify their needs, hopes, and resources to help them cope and make meaning out of their situation.

Hospital chaplains regularly counsel people on their worst days, whether in a health crisis, faith, fear, or some other upheaval, like their military, prisons, or hospice care counterparts.

A typical day for a hospital chaplain always includes visiting with patients one-on-one and may be called to meet with patients in the emergency room to help families absorb devastating news, or deal with other crises. Chaplains may also meet with patients for celebratory occasions, such as the birth of a child or the discharge of a patient completing treatment.

“Many hospital chaplains are constantly on the go, responding to each situation’s demands. For example, after meeting with patients, a chaplain writes up notes for the medical staff and may make recommendations to help improve the patient’s mindset and emotional comfort,” he said.

“As with any job, chaplains have administrative tasks to deal with as well — responding to emails, meeting with the spiritual team and hospital executives and care providers, and writing reports and presentations,” he concluded.

1. You have to be religious to see a chaplain; Many people have an existing religious framework to go to when experiencing spiritual distress, but this isn’t true of all patients. Whether a person comes from a religious background or not, everyone has some way of making sense of their life. It’s what we call “meaning-making,” and it’s prevalent in most individuals’ lives.

2. A chaplain is only for people who are dying; Although some requests are for end-of-life support, they see many patients and families throughout the treatment process since spiritual distress may arise at any point. They listen to each patient very carefully to identify spiritual needs. There’s an art to hearing what they’re saying and providing the care they need at that moment.

3. Chaplains will try to get me to be more Christian or religious; they are not here to convert patients or to put their theological beliefs on them. They look at spirituality more broadly. We respect each person’s spirituality. Suppose a patient has a specific spiritual need; in that case, they have the appropriate resources, whether Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, or any other religious group. The chaplains are an essential part of the hospital setup, and we thank God for their presence and the support they provide.