Director of Spiritual Care – Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Director of Spiritual Care

Nationwide Children’s Hospital – Columbus, Ohio

The Director of Spiritual Care at Nationwide Children’s Hospital manages the 24-hour provision of pastoral care services throughout the hospital. The Director also oversees the Clinical Pastoral Education program. This leader maintains an ongoing relationship with the Emergency Department, inpatient units, clinics, and homecare/hospice services to ensure the availability of effective pastoral and spiritual services to all patients, families and staff throughout the hospital’s entire spectrum of care provision.

The Director of Spiritual Care will report to the Vice President of Clinical Services.

Responsibilities

• Develops, implements, and evaluates Pastoral Care services throughout Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
• Develops and supervises five to seven 400-hour Clinical Pastoral Education programs annually, in accordance with standards established by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education.
• Ensures 24-hour availability of chaplains throughout the hospital to offer spiritual and emotional support to patients, families, and staff. Conducts interdenominational services for families and staff; ensures availability of the sacramental acts (e.g., baptism, communion, prayer) for patients, families, and staff.
• Facilitates provision of formal and informal emotional support by hospital staff to patients and families through education and support of staff.
• Serves as a consultant to medical and hospital staff regarding the spiritual/emotional needs of patients and their families.
• Provides pastoral counseling to staff individually on a request and referral basis.
• Interrelates and coordinates pastoral care programs with patient care units (e.g., Neurology, Hem/Onc, Neonatology, PICU) to provide optimal health care to patients and families.
• Conducts pastoral care and psychosocial portions of orientation for new employees.
• Recruits, hires, trains, evaluates, and, as necessary, counsels and/or terminates subordinate staff.
• Develops and monitors operating budget to identify variances; takes appropriate actions to ensure adherence to budgets.
• Develops and writes departmental policies and procedures. Ensures adherence to policies and modifies policies/procedures as appropriate.
• Attends seminars and training sessions to maintain professional expertise.
• Develops and maintains relationships with community clergy and religious leaders to promote pastoral care services provided by Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and to support and educate clergy in attending to the spiritual and emotional needs of children and their families.
• Maintains relationships with theological seminaries as a partner in theological education and as a recruiter for Nationwide Children’s Hospitals’ Clinical Pastoral Education programs.
• Contributes to the organizational goals for enhancing the patient experience.

Credentials required

• Master of Divinity (M.Div.)
• Chaplaincy board certification
• Chaplaincy endorsement
• ACPE Certified Educator
• Ordination in a tradition is preferred but not required

Experience required

• Certified Educator at all levels of CPE
• Congregational ministry or equivalent
• Three years of experience in institutional ministry preferred

This position is bonus eligible and relocation assistance is available.

Interested applicants should submit their interest here.

If you’d like to advertise a job opening or CPE residency, contact us at info@chaplaincyinnovation.org. Openings are publicized on a per-week basis across social media, here on the Lab’s website, and the Lab’s bi-weekly newsletter. CPE residencies are publicized at a discounted rate.