Chaplain
THE WORKING DAY
Chaplains offer pastoral and spiritual care to all patients and their carers, friends and family as well as staff. Each chaplain is a leader in their own faith or belief system and are expected to work closely with those of other faiths and beliefs. As well as an office, you will have a chapel and multi-faith room, which staff, patients and families can visit. However, as a chaplain, you will spend a lot of time in wards and other parts of the hospital visiting people who are too ill to move from their beds.
Some chaplains travel between hospitals, clinics, hospices, etc. Chaplains represent the faiths and belief systems of the local population who use health and care services. You will work with patients, staff and families with any faith or no faith. Chaplains have to be accredited as leaders in a recognised faith community. They usually have a degree or a professional qualification.
DOES THIS SOUND LIKE ME?
As a chaplain in the NHS, you will need to be willing to work with other faiths and people with no faith and able to work with staff, patients and families from all walks of life. You need to be flexible caring and compassionate.
You will also need excellent communication, including listening, skills and able to see things from another person’s point of view.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Employers expect chaplains to have experience as a leader in their own faith and experience of spiritual and pastoral care. Employers may also ask for some experience in healthcare work. This could be, for example, hospital visiting while working as a faith leader elsewhere.
