Hospital Chaplains Integration Within Interprofessional Healthcare Teams to Improve Patient Outcomes
Abstract
Background: While spiritual care is considered vital to the holistic care of patients, healthcare systems often fail to fully understand, value, and utilize chaplaincy expertise.1 Despite a growing body of research demonstrating the impact of chaplaincy on improved patient outcomes2,3 chaplains often report feeling their roles are not well understood by patients or staff and do not feel well integrated into the interprofessional healthcare team.4,5 The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the crucial role of chaplains in improving patient experience and health outcomes, emphasizing the need to better understand factors that foster their integration into the interprofessional healthcare team.
Purpose: This study sought to investigate factors that facilitate and/or impede chaplains' integration into interprofessional teams during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to gain a better understanding of ways to optimize their contributions, particularly during times of crisis.
Methods: Eleven chaplains at an academic healthcare organization in Southern California participated in semi-structured interviews during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. A thematic analysis was applied for this qualitative study, which facilitated the categorization of emergent themes relating to elements of the chaplains’ roles in interprofessional healthcare teams.
Results: Barriers to interprofessional collaboration included role confusion, SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, and fear of impeding the workflow of other healthcare providers. Facilitators included providing spiritual care to staff, being a physical presence on-site, building relationships, embedding a unit-based chaplain, and leadership support.
Implications: Intentional efforts such as providing spiritual care to staff, having a presence on-site, and embedding a unit-based chaplain during the pandemic have led to perceptions of deeper chaplain integration within the interprofessional team. Future research should consider whether these strategies can be implemented in other settings as well as the ability to sustain integration over time.
Notes
References:
1. Snowden A. (2021). What Did Chaplains Do During the Covid Pandemic? An International Survey. The journal of pastoral care & counseling : JPCC, 75(1_suppl), 6–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/1542305021992039
2. Desmet, L., Dezutter, J., Vandenhoeck, A., & Dillen, A. (2024). Healthcare Chaplaincy for Geriatric Patients: A Quasi-Experimental Study into the Outcomes of Catholic Chaplaincy Interventions in Belgium. Journal of religion and health, 63(3), 1985–2010. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-023-01982-6
3. Schultz, M., Baziliansky, S., Mitnik, I., Ulitzur, N., Illouz, S., Katra, D., Givoli, S., Campisi-Pinto, S., Bar-Sela, G., & Zalman, D. (2023). Associations Between Psycho-Social-Spiritual Interventions, Fewer Aggressive End-of-Life Measures, and Increased Time After Final Oncologic Treatment. The oncologist, 28(5), e287–e294. https://doi.org/10.1093/oncolo/oyad037
4. Timmins, F., Caldeira, S., Murphy, M., Pujol, N., Sheaf, G., Weathers, E., Whelan, J., & Flanagan, B. (2018). The Role of the Healthcare Chaplain: A Literature Review. Journal of health care chaplaincy, 24(3), 87–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2017.1338048
5. Jeanne Wirpsa, M., Emily Johnson, R., Bieler, J., Boyken, L., Pugliese, K., Rosencrans, E., & Murphy, P. (2019). Interprofessional Models for Shared Decision Making: The Role of the Health Care Chaplain. Journal of health care chaplaincy, 25(1), 20–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2018.1501131
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Qualitative Research
Keywords:
Interprofessional Interdisciplinary, Stress and Coping, Acute Care, Spiritual Care
Recommended Citation
Low, Sarah; Florindez, Lucia; Martinez-Hollingsworth, Adrienne; Coleman, Bernice; Weiner, Jason; Shu, Christina; and Kim, Linda Y., "Hospital Chaplains Integration Within Interprofessional Healthcare Teams to Improve Patient Outcomes" (2025). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 136.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2025/presentations_2025/136
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Hospital Chaplains Integration Within Interprofessional Healthcare Teams to Improve Patient Outcomes
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Background: While spiritual care is considered vital to the holistic care of patients, healthcare systems often fail to fully understand, value, and utilize chaplaincy expertise.1 Despite a growing body of research demonstrating the impact of chaplaincy on improved patient outcomes2,3 chaplains often report feeling their roles are not well understood by patients or staff and do not feel well integrated into the interprofessional healthcare team.4,5 The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the crucial role of chaplains in improving patient experience and health outcomes, emphasizing the need to better understand factors that foster their integration into the interprofessional healthcare team.
Purpose: This study sought to investigate factors that facilitate and/or impede chaplains' integration into interprofessional teams during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to gain a better understanding of ways to optimize their contributions, particularly during times of crisis.
Methods: Eleven chaplains at an academic healthcare organization in Southern California participated in semi-structured interviews during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. A thematic analysis was applied for this qualitative study, which facilitated the categorization of emergent themes relating to elements of the chaplains’ roles in interprofessional healthcare teams.
Results: Barriers to interprofessional collaboration included role confusion, SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, and fear of impeding the workflow of other healthcare providers. Facilitators included providing spiritual care to staff, being a physical presence on-site, building relationships, embedding a unit-based chaplain, and leadership support.
Implications: Intentional efforts such as providing spiritual care to staff, having a presence on-site, and embedding a unit-based chaplain during the pandemic have led to perceptions of deeper chaplain integration within the interprofessional team. Future research should consider whether these strategies can be implemented in other settings as well as the ability to sustain integration over time.
Description
This study sought to investigate factors that facilitate/impede chaplains' integration into interprofessional teams during the pandemic to better understand how to optimize their contributions, particularly during times of crisis.