Why Standards of Practice?

Although chaplains had established Common Standards for certification and a Common Code of Ethics, they lacked Standards of Practice. There had been much conversation about Standards of Practice for chaplains but little formal progress. Others with whom chaplains serve and communicate (e.g., doctors, nurses, and those from other disciplines in health care settings) have standards of practice. Having standards of practice will now help chaplains communicate with others about chaplaincy and assist chaplains in discussions with other chaplains.

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Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains in Acute Care

In order to move professional chaplaincy toward Standards of Practice, the Association of Professional Chaplains’ Commission on Quality in Pastoral Services brought together leaders in health care chaplaincy to work toward consensus about such standards. The first work group focused upon

• Minimal but essential standards of practice
• Standards for board certified chaplains in acute care settings

Models in social work and nursing, as well as models in Australian and Canadian chaplaincy, informed this work and provided catalysts for identifying and briefly explicating standards of practice within health care chaplaincy in acute care settings. The primary goal of the work group was to reach consensus about what standards of practice are most important at this time and to set those standards in front of the profession for further discussion.

The first work group created Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains in Acute Care and is presenting it to the broader health care chaplaincy community for response and dialogue.

Participants in the Standards of Practice Acute Care Work Group include health care chaplains from APC, Association for Clinical Pastoral Education and National Association of Catholic Chaplains. Co-chairs are Stephen King and Jon Overvold. Work group members are George Fitchett, Daniel Grossoehme, George Handzo, Martha Jacobs, David Johnson, Bob Kidd, Mark LaRocca-Pitts, Ted Lindquist, Jane Mather, Kimberly Murman, Floyd O'Bryan, Don Patterson, Brent Peery and Sue Wintz.

You may e-mail the work group at sop@professionalchaplains.org.   

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Project Update

The initial Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains in Acute Care appeared on this Web site and in PlainViews in February 2009 with an invitation for responses.

Thanks to the involvement of chaplains from various places and settings across the world, many comments and suggestions were received, which the work group has taken seriously and has incorporated.

The edited standards of practice were published in Chaplaincy Today,fall 2009. This special issue includes reviews from chaplains and national leaders from other health care disciplines.

Your continued participation and feedback are welcome, as the Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains in Acute Care are not static but will be adjusted as the profession moves forward.

 A special plenary session, "The Case for Standards of Practice: Do Professional Chaplains Practice What They Preach?," was presented at the 2010 APC Annual Conference by work group members Rev. George Handzo BCC and Rev. Paul Derrickson BCC. APC is proud to provide a free viewing of the video. CLICK HERE

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What’s Next?

• Ongoing education and dialogue about the Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains in Acute Care is underway. Look for articles and updates in APC e-News and on this Web page.
• A special Standards of Practice section has been created in the Discussion Forum so that chaplains and others can share feedback and experiences.
• The summer 2010 issue Healing Spirit magazine will include a case study article about one health care institution's use of the standards in strategic planning. 
  
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Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains in Long-Term Care

Work has already begun to develop Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains in Long-Term Care. Building on the work of the Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains in Acute Care, the Commission on Quality in Pastoral Services has engaged a group of board certified chaplains with expertise in long-term care to adapt standards of practice for this specialized setting. This work group expects to complete the standards by November 2009. As with the acute care standards, your feedback and ongoing input are important, as the standards will evolve as the profession moves forward.

The Standards of Practice Long-Term Care Work Group is composed of APC board certified chaplains as well as those with ties to Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, National Association of Catholic Chaplains and the National Association of Jewish Chaplains. Co-chairs are Mark LaRocca-Pitts and Jon Overvold. Work group members are Heather Bumstead, Dale Carr, John Scott Cartwright, Peter Yuichi Clark, John Fureman, Beth Jackson-Jordan, Robbye Jarrell, Donald Koepke, Michele Mickelwright, Margaret Muncie, Jackie Ward and David Wentroble.

You may e-mail the work group at sop@professionalchaplains.org. 

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What About Other Chaplaincy Settings?

Russell Dicks Article on Standards of Practice 

In 1940, the Reverend Russell L. Dicks worked with a small committee to prepare a set of standards of practice for hospital chaplains, which were adopted by the American Protestant Hospital Association. Below is the introduction to his article on the subject in which he discusses the need for standards of practice, as well as a link to the complete article.

"Standards for the Work of the Chaplain in the General Hospital by Rev. Russell Dicks DO," reprinted, with permission, from Hospitals, November, 1940  

"It has come to the attention of the American Protestant Hospital Association that the spiritual needs of many patients, both in private and public institutions, are not receiving proper attention. In some instances patients are not receiving any spiritual care, in others they are receiving altogether too much. We know of institutions where as many as seven or eight different religious workers may speak to the same patient in a given afternoon while hundreds of other patients in the same institution receive no attention. It has also come to our attention that many religious workers in hospitals attempt to force their own religious views upon the patient whether he desires them or not.

"It is our hope that through the following suggestions hospital administrators, board of directors, medical staffs and church authorities will be aided in judging the nature of the religious work going on within their institutions and further, that they may be aided in securing a more adequate type of chaplaincy service.

"It is not our thought that all the suggested standards which follow shall be considered minimum standards but that they shall present a goal toward which the institution and the chaplain shall aim in serving the religious needs of their patients. However, there are certain practices which we consider indispensable in the chaplain's work; where such practices are not being followed we suggest that serious attention be given to an investigation of why they are not by someone in authority."

Read the complete Russell Dicks article

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