Reading Room

Welcome to the APC^® Reading Room, where you can find a wealth of important documents, articles and research in the field of professional chaplaincy.

• Chaplaincy Care Resources &  Publications
• Chaplaincy Department Resources
• Common Standards for Certification & Ethics
• Complementary Spiritual  Practices (PDF)
• Cultural and Spiritual  Competency
• Faith Tradition  Resources
• Health Care  Chaplaincy
• Health Care  Ethics
• HIPAA and Pastoral Care
• Religion and  Health
• Research/ Studies
• Spiritual Assessment and Chaplaincy Care Documentation
• Spiritual Care of the Nonreligious
• Standards of Practice for Professional  Chaplains

Chaplaincy Care Department Resources
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• Chaplaincy Certification Standards as a Curriculum Resource in Clinical Pastoral Education (PDF)
• Describing and Distinguishing Our Work ["chaplaincy care" vs. "spiritual" or "pastoral" care] (PDF)
• Focus on Competence Instead of  Learning (PDF)
• Chaplain to Patient Ratios: "Staffing for Quality Chaplaincy Care Services: A Position Paper of the APC Commission on Quality in Pastoral Services" (PDF)
• Integrating the Patient and Caregiver Voice into Serious Illness Care
• Joint Commission monograph, Advancing Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient- and Family-Centered Care: A Roadmap for Hospitals
• Joint Commission 2011 Review Crosswalk for Chaplain Services (DOC)
• Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains
• Starting A Chaplaincy  Department
   

Health Care Ethics
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• Bioethics Considerations Regarding the Developmental Delayed Inpatient
• Guidelines for the Chaplain's Role in Health Care Ethics
• Spirituality and Health Care Ethics
  
   

Health Care Chaplaincy
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• Professional Chaplaincy: Its Role and Importance in Healthcare

             The whitepaper edited by Larry VandeCreek DMin and Laurel Burton ThD.
             Researched and produced by APC and other North American pastoral care
             associations.

• Practical Bearings: The Critical Bibliography Series for Health Care Chaplains
  
   

HIPAA And Pastoral Care
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• HIPAA - Definition of a Chaplain  Template (PDF)

Cultural And Spiritual Competency
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• Cultural and Spiritual Competency Handbook
   
• Cultural and Spiritual Sensitivities

Religion And Health
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• Religion and  Health (PDF)

           Collaboration among healthcare disciplines can shape future understanding of      
           how persons cope through religion
           by Harold G. Koenig MD and Kevin Adams MDiv BCC
           from Healing Spirit, fall 2008
 

Spiritual Assessment And Chaplaincy Care Documentation
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• Chaplains, Assessment, and Documentation: A Template (PDF)
• Evaluating Your Spiritual Assessment Process (PDF)
• Improving Identification of Religious Affiliation in Inpatients (PDF)
• Joint Commission Spiritual Assessment  Guidelines 
• Spiritual History Tool:  FACT (PDF)
• Spiritual History Tool: FACT,  Spanish (PDF)

Spiritual Care of the Nonreligious
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• Spiritual Care of the Non-Religious
  by Rev. Mary Martha Thiel BCC and Rev. Mary Robinson BCC, Plain Views Vol. 12 No. 12
   
• Teaching Care of the Non-Religious
  by Rev. Mary Martha Thiel BCC and Rev. Mary Robinson BCC, Plain Views Vol. 12 No. 12
   
• Spiritual Care of American 'Jews of No Religion'
  by Rev. Mary Martha Thiel BCC, Rev. Mary Robinson BCC and Rabbi Sara Paasche-Orlow BCC, Plain Views Vol. 12 No. 12