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Contents:
1. Executive Director’s Reflection
2. Seeking members’ feedback on Vision!
3. Interested in any past Visions?
4. Order Your World Day of the Sick Prayer Cards
5. Another helpful resource on managing care
6. Vast Majority of Physicians Satisfied With Hospital Chaplain Services
7. End-of-life counseling remains in the health bill
8. Spiritual Leadership Competencies available
9. Standards of Pastoral Practice in Acute Care available
10. Thanks for sharing information about home visiting protocol for Chaplains
11. Excellent resource for palliative care
12. Survey about chaplains' use of online communication tools with patients
13. November Audio Conference begins this Thursday!
14. You can still sign up for final NACC fall audio conference!
15. Video promoting the chaplaincy profession available
16. Local/regional event dates
17. Other educational events
18. Healing Tree: a request for prayers
19. Recent job postings
20. Positions wanted
Toward the end of Pastoral Care Week I received the following e-mail from one of our members, “I wanted to say how happy I am to have the [Chaplaincy Ministry] DVD and to be able to use it with others. I think it is very well done and it makes me proud to be a chaplain. I am showing it on the closed circuit TV channel in the hospital once a day during Pastoral Care Week. I have also shared it with many circles of co-workers. I’ve asked my vice president to show it at the Executive Leadership team meeting next Monday and he has agreed to do that. He also suggested that I consider using the DVD in my presentation at General Orientation. I’m definitely going to see if I can adjust my presentation to make the time for it. Thank you for a resource we can be proud of.” (continue reading on our website…)
This was one of our hopes when we produced the Chaplaincy Ministry video; that it would build awareness of and appreciation for the ministry within our work settings. Several users noted they are using it for associate orientation meetings. This is great!
This past week I used it when I gave a presentation to about twenty graduate ministry students at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. As I began the presentation we went to our NACC website to access and play the video. It worked really well! With the video and our NACC brochure that provides particulars about the ministry and its requirements for certification, I was well equipped to present for 50 minutes. You, as chaplains, have your story and experiences of ministry to share also! My point? You are even better equipped than I am! Please take the initiative to share chaplaincy ministry where you work, in your parish, at your local college. We will send you as many brochures as you need. Just ask us!
Resources! Resources!
You will read in numbers 5 and 6 below two more excellent resources for us, one on management resources for pastoral care, and the other on a significant study that reveals physicians’ satisfaction with chaplains. In recent NACC Now’s we also alerted you to the valuable Consensus Report on spirituality and palliative care. These types of resources signal to us the very important ongoing work being done to position the profession of chaplaincy among the other professions. We are very grateful to our colleagues who are conducting this research to advocate for and advance the profession.
However, these works and initiatives also lead me to ask myself, and I invite you to ask yourself, “Am I doing all I can to be the professional I can be? Am I educating and positioning myself to be a model and spokesperson of the profession? Am I helping to develop and/or contributing to research studies that will help advance the profession? What is the one place where I can have the most impact to advance the profession?” As an example, we have had Mary Johnson’s survey (number 12 in this NACC Now) available for the past several issues. Can you take a couple minutes to complete it this time, if you have not done so already?
We know our NACC mission statement begins with “NACC advocates for the profession of spiritual care.” How are you doing that? How am I doing that? If you have ideas about how you could or how the NACC could do more to advocate for the profession, please let me know.
Appreciatively,
David Lichter
Executive Director
Please help us to shape the future of Vision by responding to this 4-minute online survey (participate by clicking on the link below). Your responses will assist us to gauge members’ satisfaction with Vision in its current form, as well as to plan for upcoming issues. Please take time right now to share your ideas. Thank you!
-- NACC Editorial Advisory Panel and Laurie Hansen Cardona, Vision Editor.
Take the survey here: tinyurl.com/ykxh2mm
NACC has several surplus issues of 2007 and 2008 Visions. We would be glad to send copies of specific topical issues to members for cost of shipping. They can be valuable for CPE groups, staff learning, and other professional development purposes. Go to www.nacc.org/vision/backIssues.asp to view the pdfs of 2007 and 2008 back issues (requires member login). Contact Cindy Bridges (cbridges@nacc.org) for copy orders. 10 copies or less for $5.00 priority shipping. 10-25 copies for $10.00 priority shipping.
Order Your World Day of the Sick Prayer CardsAs you know, the NACC publishes, both in English and Spanish, two prayer cards, one for the care giver and one for the person sick. You can order them now by going to www.nacc.org/resources/wds/ to download the order form.
Another helpful resource on managing care“The Management of Care: Literature on Leadership and Organizational Development,” Edition 5 of the series Practical Bearings: The Critical Bibliography for Health Care Chaplains is now online at HealthCare Chaplaincy’s website: www.healthcarechaplaincy.org/practicalbearings. The author, The Rev. Dr. Martin Montonye, Director of Clinical Pastoral Education at HealthCare Chaplaincy, seeks both to inform and to stimulate dialogue within the pastoral care community: “A great deal has been written on the subject of leadership, but definitions and explanations vary widely,” he wrote. With a reader feedback tool linked to the paper, he encourages readers’ responses as to what they believe are some of the strengths and challenges pastoral professionals face as leaders. He asks, “In light of the unique preparation and role of pastoral professionals, is there a distinct developmental process you must engage in to move from the bedside to the boardroom?” Practical Bearings offers thorough and current resources for pastoral educators and pastoral practitioners through the generous support of the John Templeton Foundation and HealthCare Chaplaincy. For more information, please contact: Rev. Dr. Leonard M. Hummel, Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Care, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, 61 Seminary Ridge, Gettysburg, PA 17325, email: lhummel(AT)ltsg.edu, 717-338-3000, ext. 2157.
Vast Majority of Physicians Satisfied With Hospital Chaplain ServicesGeorge Fitchett, Ph.D., of Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, led a national research study. The survey of physicians’ experience with hospital chaplains found that the vast majority of doctors were satisfied with the spiritual services provided. Physicians in the northeast and those with a dim view of religion’s effects on patients, however, were less likely to be pleased. The results of the survey – the largest, most representative survey of physicians’ attitudes about religion and spirituality conducted to date – are published in a research letter in the October 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
“Religion and spirituality are important resources for coping with serious illnesses, but research indicates that patients’ needs in this regard often go unmet,” Fitchett said. “That’s why it is important to understand how physicians view chaplains. Doctors play a crucial role in ensuring that patients get access to this kind of care.”
The study was based on data from a random sample of physicians of all specialties selected from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile. The survey response rate was 63 percent.
Of the 1,102 physicians whose responses were included in the study, 89 percent had some experience with chaplains. Of these physicians, 90 percent were satisfied or very satisfied with chaplains’ services.
Those who were satisfied tended to be physicians who worked in teaching hospitals; practiced medical subspecialties, such as cardiology or oncology, or other specialties, such as emergency medicine or neurology; endorsed the notion that religion and spirituality can have a good effect on patients; and believed it was acceptable to pray with a patient whenever the physician sensed it would be appropriate.
Those physicians who believed that religion and spirituality had a negative impact on patients were more likely to be dissatisfied with chaplains’ services.
The survey also found that physicians in the Midwest were more likely to be satisfied with chaplains than physicians in the Northeast. The finding was unexplained because of limitations in the data collected.
Other researchers involved in the study were Kenneth Rasinski, PhD, from the University of Chicago; Wendy Cadge, PhD, from Brandeis University; and Dr. Farr Curlin, from the University of Chicago. Taken from 10.26.09 news release, Rush University, Sharon Butler, Office of Media Affairs, (312) 942-7816, Sharon_Butler(AT)rush.edu.
Also see George Fitchett’s article on the study in PlainViews.
It’s good for us to be aware that end-of-life counseling remains in the proposed health bill. The proposed legislation would allow Medicare to pay for a counseling session with a doctor or clinical professional once every five years. The bill calls for such sessions to be "completely" voluntary, and prohibits the encouragement or promotion of suicide or assisted suicide. The counseling provision is supported by doctors' groups and AARP, the seniors' lobby. It was not included in health care bills passed by two Senate committees. See The Associated Press, update 3:47 p.m. ET., Thurs. October 29, 2009.
Spiritual Leadership Competencies availableThe Pastoral Care Summit Care Services/Staff Development Task Force has identified the Spiritual Leadership Competencies needed by a chaplain considering leadership roles in pastoral care. These will be disseminated widely as a resource for our members and a source of dialogues among our partners, e.g., CHA and the SCC. To access them go to www.nacc.org/advancing/pctask.asp.
Standards of Pastoral Practice in Acute Care availableThe NACC Board of Directors reviewed and endorsed the Standards of Practice for Acute Care that had been developed by the APC Commission on Quality in Pastoral Services. Other cognate groups of the Spiritual Care Collaborative are also endorsing them. Please begin to share and use them in your local settings. You can access them at: www.professionalchaplains.org/index.aspx?id=1210.
Thanks for sharing information about home visiting protocol for ChaplainsIn the prior NACC Now, Jeanne Childs asked if members had home visiting protocols for chaplains. Late last week, Jeanne e-mailed, “Yes I did get some terrific responses and am presently following up with the leads. What [NACC Now] a splendid resource! And how generous our members are! Blessings! Jeanne” Thank you, members! Jeanne will share what she pulls together in the near future.
Excellent resource for palliative careThe Journal of Palliative Medicine has published the Special Report “Improving the Quality of Spiritual Care as a Dimension of Palliative Care: The Report of the Consensus Conference.” This is an excellent resource. To read the Special Report, visit “Documents and PowerPoint presentations” at www.nacc.org/resources/palliative.asp.
Survey about chaplains' use of online communication tools with patientsYou can still participate. Take a few moments to respond to an anonymous survey about use of the Internet in chaplain-patient communications. Go to: tinyurl.com/ygt7xo7.
Questions/concerns? Chaplain Mary E. Johnson can help at Johnson.mary3@mayo.edu.
This next two Thursdays, November 12 and November 19, 2009, Dr. Susan K. Wood, SCL is presenting on “Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord: Insights and Implications for Pastoral Care Ministry.” These audio conferences (2) will provide participants a background on Co-workers in the Vineyard of the Lord. Dr. Wood will offer an overview of its contributions, ongoing discussions on church ministry and the formation and authorization of lay ecclesial ministers, and some implications for the specialized ministry of pastoral care. Last chance today to register. To register, click here.
You can still sign up for final NACC fall audio conference!You can still sign up for the final fall Audio Conference.
December 3 and December 10, 2009 – Fr. Peter Fink, SJ, presents "Healing Ministry and the Sacraments: A Contemporary Understanding of Sacraments Can Enrich our Pastoral Care Ministry."
These audio conferences (2) will provide participants with an excellent update on the theology of sacraments, particularly the sacraments of anointing and reconciliation.
For more information and to register, click here.
Our video on Chaplaincy, both a recruitment version (that begins and ends with “Is God Calling You?”) and a version without this question, are available in DVD format. The charge is just $6.00, the cost of production and shipping. You may preview the video at this link. To order copies please email Cindy Bridges for instructions.
Local/regional event datesMore local gatherings are being set. Please review the list below, and mark your calendars. More details of events will be in future NACC Now's.
We have been alerted to other educational events that you can find on the NACC website. They include:
Please let us know if you would like our membership to pray for your health and healing. We continue to pray for Sr. Micheletta McGee, RSM (pancreatic cancer), Lourdes B. Ruta (wife of Peter Ruta in recovery), Fr. Bob Nee BCC, LICSW, CT (intractable epilepsy), Kelly Elizabeth Sexton (cancer: daughter of NACC member Melyssa Sexton), Joyce Fink (heart attack/recovery from open heart surgery), Mike J. Murphy (cancer treatment), Fr. Bill Spacek (detached retina and other eye issues); Sr. Nancy Crane, OP (cancer treatment); Sr. Hilda Mallet, MHS (cancer treatment); Sr. Rita Rzeppa, IBVM (recovering/rehab from knee surgery), and Dennis Eldridge (Kathy's husband, for cancer treatment).
We just learned that Sr. Joanna Burkhart, S.F.P. responded to God's call on Friday, October 30, 2009 and passed to the arms of our loving Father. She received her NACC certification in 1975 and faithfully renewed each five years. Sister served in the role of chaplain at Mercy Mt. Airy Hospital and Mercy Western Hills Hospitals, Cincinnati, OH until 2000 when she had a stroke that left her with impaired speech. She retired to the ministry of prayer and presence, which she did dutifully and devoutly. May she rest in peace.
Recent job postings
CHAPLAIN (Part-time)
Tampa, Florida - St. Joseph's John Knox Village
CERTIFIED CHAPLAIN
Pittsburg, KS - Mt. Carmel Regional Medical Center
DIRECTOR OF MISSION LEADERSHIP
Burbank, CA - Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center
DIRECTOR OF MISSION LEADERSHIP AND SPIRITUAL CARE
San Pedro, CA - Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center
CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATION SUPERVISOR/CHAPLAIN
Torrance, CA - Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers
In this time of change and uncertainty it is more important than ever to use every resource available. If you have lost your job recently, if you’re just seeking a new or better position, or if you are an employer seeking a chaplain for your organization, be sure to visit our Positions Wanted webpage. NACC members can take advantage of this free service by placing a job-seeking ad, for free, which will run for 60 days. To see the ads, visit www.nacc.org/positions/wanted.asp.
To place your own ad, send an email to Phil Paradowski: pparadowski@nacc.org.