Spiritual Health Practitioner

Providence Health Care; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 52,000 - 76,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Comprehensive benefits package

Pension plan

Meaningful impact

Growth opportunities

Job summary

Providence Health Care is seeking a Spiritual Health Practitioner to assess spiritual needs and provide comprehensive care to patients, families, and staff within an interdisciplinary team. The role includes crisis response, mentorship of volunteers, and precepting Clinical Psychospiritual Education students.

The position requires a Master’s degree in Theology or related studies, CPE units, and experience with spiritual care in diverse belief systems, with on-call duties as needed.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Theology or related field from an accredited institution.
• Clinical Psychospiritual Education (CPE) with two advanced units.
• Preferably certified as a spiritual health practitioner with CASC/ACSS.

Responsibilities

• Assess and provide comprehensive spiritual and emotional support to patients, families, and staff.
• Participate in program-based care team meetings and rounds.
• Respond to referrals in a timely manner and follow up as required.
• Document spiritual assessments and interventions in medical records.
• Collaborate with clergy and community spiritual resources as requested.
• Provide staff support during crises and participate in on-call duties.

Skills

Counselling skills

Crisis intervention

Interpersonal skills

Spiritual care

Communication

Team collaboration

Education

Master’s degree in Theology or related

CPE with two advanced units

CASC/ACSS certification preferred

Tools

Cerner

Pagers

Job description

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.

What You Bring

Education, Training and Experience

• Master’s degree in Theology, Public and Pastoral Leadership, Spiritual Practices, or other relevant theological/spiritual studies from an accredited institution.
• Clinical Psychospiritual Education (CPE) with two advanced units.
• Preferably certified as a spiritual health practitioner with CASC/ACSS.

Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated 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.
• What We Offer
• Competitive salary: $38.88 - $55.89 CAD per hour, depending on experience
• Comprehensive benefits: Eligible employees receive a robust medical and dental benefits package, including 4 weeks paid vacation starting.
• Pension plan: Work towards a comfortable retirement through employer-matched contributions to one of Canada's strongest pension plans!
• Meaningful impact: Your dedication and expertise will directly impact the lives of patients, including many from marginalized communities, helping contribute to the public healthcare system we're privileged to have here in BC.
• Growth opportunities: We welcome individuals at all stages of their career, offering opportunities for professional development and growth.
• State-of-the-art facilities: The new St. Paul’s Hospital and health campus will be the most innovative approach to the delivery of integrated care in B.C. and Canada, designed to appropriately address the future health needs of patients, families and our communities. From hospital care to primary and community health solutions, the new St. Paul’s Hospital and health campus will continue to lead innovations in care, research, and teaching. The new St. Paul’s Hospital is expected to open in 2027.
• Inclusive culture: We respect the diversity, dignity and interdependence of all persons. We value the cultural richness that our diverse workforce brings to the care of our equally diverse population of patients and residents.

Your Day to Day:

• 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.

Who we are:

Providence is a non-profit healthcare provider with over fifteen sites, including a large tertiary hospital in the heart of Vancouver’s beautiful and vibrant Downtown, a smaller community hospital in the idyllic Mount Pleasant neighborhood, one of the largest referral centres for rehabilitation in British Columbia, and five long-term care facilities, as well as other clinics.

As a leading teaching and research organization, and the provincial referral center for Cardiac, HIV/AIDS, and Renal Care, we provide services ranging from acute and long-term care to leading substance use and addiction treatment supporting some of BC’s most marginalized communities. Guided by the motto “how you want to be treated”, delivering exceptional patient and family-centered care is our mission.