Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr;61(2):948-961.
doi: 10.1007/s10943-022-01526-4. Epub 2022 Mar 12.

Australian Chaplaincy Support of Health Care Staff: Presence, Professional and Relational

Carl Aiken  1   2
Affiliations

Australian Chaplaincy Support of Health Care Staff: Presence, Professional and Relational

Carl Aiken. J Relig Health. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

The aim of the research was to explore how health care staff experienced support from hospital chaplains. The context for the study was two acute care hospitals in the South Australian Government's public health system: one paediatric, the other adult. The research utilised semi-structured interviews that were transcribed and analysed and coded using established methodologies for qualitative studies. The results and subsequent analysis revealed two overarching themes which emerged from the narratives of staff members. Support from chaplains was perceived as being (i) part of the hospital institution, (ii) a participant in the overall care team, (iii) as a symbolic presence, and (iv) available in the diverse settings of education, crisis and trauma events and debriefings. Chaplaincy support was experienced in relational and spontaneous care in serendipitous meetings with staff or at a workstation which was experienced as inclusive and respectful.

Keywords: Chaplain; Pastoral care; Spirituality; Staff support.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author/researcher has served as a chaplain for over 20 years in the Australian Army Reserve and is Emeritus Chaplain at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, South Australia, and is an Alumni of Drew University, New Jersey, USA.

References

    1. Aiken, C. (2010). How we do Chaplaincy: A case study of South Australian Chaplains’ Understanding about their way of doing Chaplaincy. Melbourne College of Divinity. Melbourne, Australia. https://repository.divinity.edu.au/517/1/2010MMin_Aiken,C_Text_How_We_Do...
    1. Aiken, C. (2016). Chaplains Support of Staff. D.Min.Thesis. Drew University: New Jersey. USA. www.academia.edu >chaplains_support_of_staff
    1. Boyatzis RE. Transforming Qualitative Information – Thematic Analysis and Code Development. Sage; 1998.
    1. Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology. 2006;3(2):77–101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa. - DOI
    1. Butler A, Duffy K. Understanding the role of chaplains in supporting patients and healthcare staff. Nursing Standard. 2019 doi: 10.7748/ns.2019.e11282. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources