Relationships Between Perceived Importance of Chaplain Presence and Health Professionals’ Emotional Well-Being in the United States

Abstract

Hospital-based chaplains receive specialized training to provide spiritual support to patients and healthcare staff during difficult health transitions. However, the impact of perceived chaplain importance on healthcare staff’s emotional and professional well-being is unclear. Healthcare staff ( n = 1471) caring for patients in an acute care setting within a large health system answered demographic and emotional health questions in Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap). Findings suggest that as perceived levels of chaplain importance increase, burnout may decrease and compassion satisfaction may improve. Chaplain presence in the hospital setting may support healthcare staff emotional and professional well-being following occupational stressors including COVID-19-related surges.

Spiritual Support Staff Influence Stress Among Hospital-Based Health Care Personnel: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Significant inverse relationships emerged between the remaining 2 chaplain items and stress (chaplains provide spiritual support to health care providers; since the COVID-19 pandemic, I have interacted with chaplains more frequently), aligning with previous research and supporting our hypothesis. 11,12…”

“…The study team’s prior publication details the sampling strategy utilized to recruit participants from the multistate, faith-based health care system. 11 Briefly, research team members employed at the various participating hospitals across a large, faith-based, multistate health system in the Western United States shared email invitations and flyers with QR codes directly linking to the online survey with health care personnel. Participants who clicked the link answered preliminary eligibility questions validating age 18 years or older and current work in a role involving patients.…”

“…1,18 The PSS-4 demonstrates sound psychometric proprieties with a Cronbach’s alpha score of 0.77 cited in the literature 1 and 0.81 in our own study. 11 The PSS-4 asks participants to rate aspects of stress experienced in the past 30 days. Scores range between 0 and 16 with higher scores indicating higher perceived stress.…”

“…Spiritual support staff are employed by many health care organizations as one strategy to alleviate work-related stressors, and health care personnel interactions with these staff are linked to improved emotional well-being. 11,12 Examples of emotionally beneficial acute care programs led by spiritual support staff include care models such as Code Lavender™ or Tea for the Soul. 13,14 Therefore, having access to spiritual support services may help reduce stress levels 11,12 and negative emotional states such as depression 15 among interdisciplinary health care personnel.…”

“…11,12 Examples of emotionally beneficial acute care programs led by spiritual support staff include care models such as Code Lavender™ or Tea for the Soul. 13,14 Therefore, having access to spiritual support services may help reduce stress levels 11,12 and negative emotional states such as depression 15 among interdisciplinary health care personnel.…”