Chaplain Associate

The interfaith chaplain will serve intermittently to support the Spiritual Care department when current staff are away.  The ideal candidate will have a flexible schedule and be able to work both in-hospital day shifts as well as on-call shifts at night from home.  Interfaith chaplains support the diversity of religious and spiritual practices of the St. Elizabeth’s patients, family members, staff, and community members.   

St. Elizabeth’s is a 300+ bed acute care hospital that includes 38 ICU beds, a level III NICU, two units of inpatient behavioral health, and a variety of medical and surgical specialties.  Part of the Boston Medical Center system, St. Elizabeth’s serves those who live in the Allston-Brighton area as well as from the broader eastern Massachusetts region.  Our community includes patients from a wide diversity of ethnicities, socieo-economic statuses, and spiritual traditions.

Position: Chaplain Associate       

Department: Spiritual Care Services

Schedule: Part Time

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES / DUTIES:

• Actively rounding and assessing patients on assigned units, while providing appropriate psycho-social-spiritual support as well as follow-up if needed 
• Working collaboratively with other members of the Spiritual Care department to provide religion-specific interventions for patients, families, staff, and community members 
• Contacting outside clergy and religious communities to support patients and families as needed 
• Collaborate with the broader team of providers, nursing, social work, case managers, and palliative care to provide holistic care for patients and families 
• Charting patient and family interactions within the electronic medical record (currently Meditech) 
• Covering the on-call pager from within the hospital (day) or from home (night) as scheduled 
• Leading spirituality groups on behavioral health units as assigned 
• Mentoring graduate practicum students working in the department and overseeing spiritual care volunteers as needed 
• Supporting scheduled services for the hospital population (e.g. memorials for staff, bereavement services for families) as well as for specific religious observances (e.g. Catholic mass, Passover, Ramadan) as requested 

JOB REQUIREMENTS 

EDUCATION:

Minimum 40 hours of work towards a graduate degree in Theology/Religion/Philosophy; preference for a completed master's degree  

Minimum of 1 units of CPE accredited by ACPE; preference 4 units  

Must have endorsement by a recognized religious body or authority – ordination is not required 

Ability to cover on-call regularly from outside the hospital – requires arriving at hospital within 30-45 minutes (minus traffic) of call 

Ability to work independently and to make decisions based on established policies and procedures. 

Ability to support a wide range of religious and spiritual traditions including Catholic, Evangelical Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, non-theistic, spiritual but not religious, nones; preference for deeper experience with Jewish and/or Muslim spiritual care 

Preference for interfaith chaplains who speak Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, or Chinese (Cantonese or Mandarin)