Senior Chaplain - Emergency Dept

Houston Methodist; Sugar Land (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Houston Methodist is seeking a Senior Chaplain to provide spiritual care and guidance to patients, families, and staff, aligned with our mission and values. This role requires leadership, clinical presence, and involvement in department planning and program oversight.

The Senior Chaplain will deliver crisis support, coordinate pastoral care, mentor chaplains and CPE students, and collaborate with the care team to meet diverse spiritual needs across the hospital.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in theology or equivalent per APC/NACC/ACPE standards.
• Four units of clinical pastoral education from an ACPE accredited program.

Responsibilities

• Provide spiritual care to meet patients' religious and emotional needs.
• Lead department initiatives and serve as in-charge designee in absence of management.
• Mentor chaplains, CPE students, and volunteers; participate in staff development.

Skills

Endorsed chaplain

English proficiency

Communication skills

Team leadership

Problem solving

Independent work

Interpersonal skills

Customer service

Education

Master's degree in theology

4 CPE units

Job description

Day Shift (10am - 6pm)

At Houston Methodist, the Senior Chaplain position is responsible for providing guidance for spiritual care to meet the spiritual, religious, and emotional needs of Houston Methodist patients and their family members. This position provides spiritual care support for Houston Methodist employees, visitors and physicians, following established patient care plans, proactively identifying when a change in approach or intervention is necessary, taking appropriate action and involving others as needed. As a senior level, in addition to performing the duties of Chaplain, the Sr. Chaplain position may serve as in-charge designee in absence of management, participates with management on department planning, implementation, oversight of clinical coverage, activities and staff and assumes primary responsibility for one or more department initiatives/programs. This position assists leadership in carrying out the Houston Methodist mission, vision and values, participating in and leading activities in these efforts.

FLSA STATUS

Exempt

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Master’s degree in theology or related studies from an institution accredited by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), or equivalency approved by the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC), American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC and only if prior to 2017), National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC), Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC), Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (CASC), Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), or Spiritual Care Association (SCA)
• Four units of clinical pastoral education (CPE) from an accredited institution(s), e.g. the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (CASC)

EXPERIENCE

• Three years experience as a professional chaplain (post clinical pastoral education) in a healthcare setting
• Acute care hospital setting strongly preferred

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS

• Must have one of the following certifications: Board Certified Chaplain (BCCI), Board Certified Chaplain (NAJC), Board Certified Chaplain (NACC), Board Certified Chaplain (NAVAC), Board Certified Chaplain (APC), Board Certified Chaplain (SCA), Advanced Practice Board Certified Chaplain (SCA), Certified Spiritual Care Practitioner (CASC)

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Endorsed for chaplaincy by a recognized endorsing body
• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations.
• Proficient in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job.
• Effective communication with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with customer service focus and application of positive language principles.
• Works independently; capable of effectively handling challenging/difficult interactions, patient care situations; demonstrates sound judgment and executes above average communication skills.
• Exhibits strong interpersonal, teamwork and leadership skills with all levels of the healthcare team and assures delivery of excellent customer service to all patients, visitors, physicians, employees and co-workers.
• Adapts to multiple ongoing priorities with minimal supervision, including organizing workflow and actively participating in problem-solving.
• Handles challenging/difficult situations.
• Possesses competent computer knowledge; operates various computer systems to enter and maintain patient documents.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Role models a supportive and positive environment; fosters and leads the team to be a dynamic, team-focused work unit that helps to achieve optimal department results.
• Collaborates with all members of the patient care team by role modeling communication in a positive, supportive, non-judgmental manner.
• Leads and provides oversight to one or more department initiatives such as Volunteer programs, Eucharistic Ministers, Community Outreach, quality assessments/metrics/reporting, integration of I CARE values, leadership development, etc., including planning and development of such initiatives.
• Guides and mentors other chaplains, CPE students and spiritual care volunteers to build confidence in skills, knowledge and abilities; teaches, orients and precepts new chaplains; provides input on staff performance and opportunities for development and improvement, proactively participating in activities to develop others.
• Leads healthy work relationships such as conflict mitigation, problem solving and resolution efforts; drives initiatives to improve department scores for employee engagement.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Provides spiritual care to meet the spiritual, religious, and emotional needs of patients and their family members of all faiths, during hospitalization and particularly for pre-operative, critically ill and dying patients.
• Makes visits with patients to conduct spiritual care assessments, in response to referrals and codes, and for follow-up care.
• Follows established patient care plans, proactively identifies when a change in approach or intervention is necessary, takes appropriate action and involves others as needed.
• Provides patients the opportunity to participate in their plan of care as applicable.
• Serves as liaison with community clergy, local congregations and denominational groups; utilizes community resources to assist in meeting the spiritual needs of others.
• Provides crisis intervention for patients, family members, visitors, employees and physicians.
• Drives initiatives/activities to meet or exceed department and organization targets for patient satisfaction measures.

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Consults with physicians, clinical management, hospital leadership and staff to assess quality and safety of services provided.
• Accurately and thoroughly documents patient visits and spiritual care provided in the patient’s record.
• Participates in interprofessional health team rounds; proactively identifies need for intervention and takes action, involving others as necessary.
• Identifies initiatives or opportunities for corrective action and improvement, provides recommendations; contributes to meeting department and hospital targets for quality and safety; leads education and implementation of quality improvement activities and department safety initiatives.

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Utilizes resources effectively and efficiently, demonstrates responsible financial stewardship; manages own time effectively and prioritizes work to achieve maximum results in a timely manner; assists co-workers with effective time management.

GROWTH / INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• May assist management with development, planning, activation and achievement of department vision and goals.
• Plans and leads various department and/or hospital-wide activities such as worship services, I CARE values integration, accreditation readiness, bioethics, special projects, hospital committees, leadership development, etc.
• Participates in and represents the hospital in Houston Methodist sponsored community activities; may present at New Employee Orientation or other employee sessions.
• Fosters a positive and constructive teaching environment by engaging students and co-workers in learning opportunities that are valuable and in alignment with Houston Methodist mission, vision and values.
• Completes and updates the My Development Plan on an ongoing basis.

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

WORK ATTIRE

• Uniform: No
• Scrubs: No
• Business professional: Yes
• Other (department approved): No

ON-CALL

• On Call: Yes

TRAVEL

• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area: Yes
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area: No