Detailed job description and main responsibilities

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Contribute to the effective working of the Spiritual and Pastoral Care team:
• Ensure good communication and collaboration with all members of the Spiritual and Pastoral Care Department.
• Follow established procedures and policies.
• Opportunity to share in the provision of 24-hour on-call cover; making decisions using own initiative about spiritual needs in crisis situations; responding to emergency calls in week and weekend night-times while meeting the required response time. This dimension includes responsibility for putting the opening phases of the NUH Major Incident Plan into action for Spiritual and Pastoral Care when required.
• Share in the daytime duty rota.
• Receive and respond to referrals from members of the healthcare team.
• Assist in the planning of the work of Spiritual and Pastoral Care students.
• Participate in particular projects and operational groups as directed by the Spiritual and Pastoral Care Manager.
• Prepare and disseminate briefing material, reports and liturgical material as directed by the Spiritual and Pastoral Care Manager.
• Assist with Spiritual and Pastoral Care service developments, including Major Incident planning and implementation.
• Contribute to audit and research within Chaplaincy practice

• Provide pastoral and spiritual care:
• Assess spiritual health and wellbeing needs, develop spiritual care plans, and keep written and electronic records.
• Manage referrals and determine a timely response.
• Maintain confidentiality and obtain informed consent.
• Provide or facilitate spiritual and pastoral care sensitive to the cultural, faith and belief realities of the diversity of service users, including identifying language needs and accessing interpreting services.
• Protect individuals from all unwanted visits, including visits from faith community or belief group representatives, and communicate this to third parties as appropriate.
• Maintain effective and consistent links with designated clinical areas.
• Work collaboratively alongside other professionals of all grades.
• Articulate need on behalf of an individual when required.

• Provide or facilitate religious care:
• Deliver ritual consistent with one’s own faith or belief tradition.
• Devise, co-ordinate and lead ritual to meet particular needs e.g. memorial services for staff.
• Perform ritual interventions connected with crisis according to the needs of users and consistent with the permissions and practice of one’s own faith or belief community, e.g. the baptism of seriously ill babies the washing of deceased patients sacrament of the sick

• Conduct funerals.
• Organise rites and sacraments that cannot be undertaken by the post holder to be administered by a suitable colleague or community faith/belief leader.
• Make referrals to appropriate faith/belief leaders and community ministers of religion at the patient’s request and with their consent.
• Establish effective links with faith/belief leaders in the community.
• Record all assessments and interventions in patient information system

• Provide support for staff:
• Model working relationships that respect the integrity of others.
• Schedule time for staff as service users.
• Assess and respond to staff pastoral and spiritual needs (individual or collective).
• Respect confidence in responding to requests for personal support from members of staff and placement students..
• Maintain awareness of issues, changes and conditions that may affect staff wellbeing.
• Collaborate with other relevant departments in promoting staff wellbeing.
• Identify other sources of staff support and, with consent, facilitate referral.

• Providing training and education:
• Identify the learning needs of self and others.
• Contribute to the planning and delivery of learning opportunities.
• Contribute to the selection, training and supervision of students .
• Train and oversee trainee chaplains.
• Contribute to Trust and/or Departmental Induction Programme for new staff.
• Present education and training sessions to a variety of internal and external groups.

• Contribute to the professional development of Spiritual and Pastoral Care:
• Maintain an up-to-date understanding of the theory and practice of Spiritual and Pastoral Care.
• Maintain an awareness of research relevant to Spiritual and Pastoral Care.
• Facilitate, as agreed with the Spiritual and Pastoral Care Manager, the administrative, development, and reflective practice processes of the Department.
• Assist with audits, service reviews and research as directed by the Spiritual and Pastoral Care Manager.

• Personal and Professional Development:
• Develop and maintain up-to-date knowledge, understanding and skills relevant to the duties of the job e.g. critical care, pastoral practice.
• Identify personal learning needs.
• Participate in the Development Review Process (Appraisal).
• Maintain agreed personal and professional development.
• Practice in accordance with the principles of the UK Board of Healthcare Chaplaincy Code of Conduct, Spiritual & Religious Care Capabilities & Competences for Healthcare Chaplain, and Standards for Healthcare Chaplaincy Services.
• Develop as a reflective practitioner and receive regular supervision.
• Maintain a personal discipline within the integrity of the post holder’s own faith or belief tradition e.g. meditation
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• Contribute to the effective working of the Trust:
• Follow Trust policies and procedures.
• Embody Trust values.
• Undertake mandatory training.
• Participate in relevant Trust-wide activities.
• Represent Spiritual and Pastoral Care in healthcare teams (eg. MDTs) in the Trust.
• Represent Spiritual and Pastoral Care at relevant functions and events.
• Create and lead corporate acts which have spiritual significance. Eg. Acts of Remembrance.