Scope of Care/Service

Type of Department

Pastoral Care is a Patient Care Services Department which provides pastoral care and crisis ministry, spiritual nurture, and bereavement services to patients, families and staff throughout Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and Health System.

Scope and Complexity of Patient Needs

A wide range of spiritual needs and bereavement care is represented in this multicultural, treatment center. Pastoral Care must be prepared to provide a sensitive and inclusive ministry in health crisis from problem pregnancies and births, to end-of-life decisions and death.

Population/Age of Patients

Care is provided to patients from infancy (birth) through geriatrics (65 years and older).

Department Goals

The emergent goal of Pastoral Care is to identify levels of spiritual hope within patients and their families as they face significant health crises, and to nurture this hope as they receive care in the clinics and hospital of the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. From this emergent goal are encompassed the following objectives that specify the department's scope of services:

• Assess the spiritual values and needs of patients and their families, along with their spiritual injuries, in order to provide timely and appropriate pastoral and spiritual interventions.
• Assist patients and families in drawing upon their spiritual and personal resources as an important element in the healing and recovery process.
• Ensure that patients and families have free and ready access to religious practices and rituals which sustain them in situations of uncertainty, distress and suffering.
• Provide pastoral and spiritual comfort, counsel, and bereavement support to patients and families in anticipatory grief and bereavement crises.
• Provide pastoral support to the healthcare staff in situations of stress or spiritual distress which they encounter in caring for patients and families.
• Assist patients and families in the theological and spiritual aspects of critical decision making, such as completing Advance Directives or facing end-of-life dilemmas.
• Provide value-added pastoral care which enhances the satisfaction of patients and their families with their total care and treatment in the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

Type of Availability of Chaplains/Volunteer Clergy

Chaplains are assigned throughout the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. Staff chaplains are assigned to Clinical Services Lines (CSL). These CSL chaplains will be assisted by our future chaplain interns, and pastoral volunteers ministering under the direction of the CPE Supervisor, Director, and Staff Chaplains. Presently, The Department of Pastoral Care provides coverage through staff chaplains and volunteer clergy. In addition to calls for varied pastoral and spiritual crises, the department along with every other discipline that is a part of the Code Blue Team receives an overhead announcement when there is an in-house medical emergency.

Methods Used to Assess and Meet Patients' Needs

Within the high volume of patient needs and the limited number of pastoral care staff, several measures are employed to assess spiritual needs and to target those patients and families who most need pastoral care and spiritual nurture. The pastoral care staff is prompted to make initial pastoral and bereavement assessment visits by referrals originating from patient census, staff, and the hospital operator. In these initial visits, along with exploration and assessment of spiritual needs, chaplains demonstrate hospitality and affirmation to patients and families of the hospital's mission, vision, and values.

Standards of Care/Practice

The team of Chaplains provides visitation in response to referrals, and works closely with area Pastors to assist in meeting the needs of their congregants who are hospitalized.