Pastoral Counselor (Hospice) - HomeCare

Basic Purpose Of The Position

Develops, implements and coordinates the Pastoral and Bereavement Program responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the Hospice Pastoral Program, Spiritual Volunteer program, and spiritual volunteer activities. Provides professional spiritual services in accordance with the needs of hospice patients, families, staff, and volunteers.

United States

In general, most of the time will be spent in the following types of activities:

• Assesses, implements, and supervises spiritual care in keeping with patient/family's belief system.
• Develops individual spiritual care plans, demonstrating effort to work in close collaboration with local clergy.
• Provides support and resources to patient/family's spiritual counselors in the community.
• Provides religious/spiritual consultation to clients and staff and spiritual care to patient/family at the time of death or funeral.
• Collaborates with the Hospice Interdisciplinary Team in assessing and meeting patient/family's spiritual needs.
• Provides care consistent with the physician's plan of treatment and documents care in the clinical record.
• Designs bereavement programs and services.
• Consults with Hospice Interdisciplinary Team regarding the bereavement needs of grieving family members and significant others.
• Develops bereavement care plans for each client receiving bereavement volunteer services.
• Coordinates bereavement follow-up by volunteers and Interdisciplinary Team members.
• Trains and oversees volunteers in the areas of grief and bereavement.
• Maintains a system for recording bereavement activities in clients' records.
• Provides direct bereavement counseling to families.
• Coordinates bereavement volunteer activities with hospice volunteer activities.
• Develops educational programs for Interdisciplinary Team and family members on loss, grief and related topics.
• Counsels hospice staff who are grieving the loss of a patient.
• Oversees volunteer facilitators of bereavement groups.
• Plans, implements, and coordinates bereavement support groups to meet the needs of various client populations.
• Develops, coordinates and evaluates annual plan for Spiritual and Bereavement volunteer resources.
• Recruits, interviews, orients, trains, assigns and evaluates Spiritual and Bereavement volunteers.
• Supervises, instructs, and provides guidance to Spiritual and Bereavement volunteers in the performance of their duties.
• Establishes procedures in relation to Spiritual and Bereavement volunteer activities and area of responsibility.
• Develops and implements programs/in-services for Spiritual and Bereavement volunteer participation.
• Reviews/audits, compiles and maintains Spiritual and bereavement volunteer records which include training and service data for compliance with regulations.
• Schedules meetings with Spiritual and Bereavement volunteers to provide support; ensures effectiveness of service; identifies needs and gaps in service; acts as Spiritual and Bereavement volunteer liaison member of interdisciplinary team.

• Networks with community bereavement services and develops and coordinates bereavement group events.
• Develops bereavement library resources.
• Adheres to the standards of the Agency's quality assurance program.
• Compiles required service and statistical records.
• Attendance at MSW facilitated hospice support group.
• Schedules meetings with Spiritual and Bereavement volunteers to provide support and ensures effectiveness of service; identifies needs and gaps in service; acts as volunteer liaison member of interdisciplinary team.
• Collaborates with community partners in recruitment, training and assignment of Spiritual and bereavement volunteers into those settings.
• Facilitates communications with Agency staff, Spiritual and bereavement volunteers and families.
• Educates the community about the Hospice and Spiritual/Bereavement Volunteer Programs; represents the Spiritual/Bereavement Volunteer Program at internal and external meetings.
• Collaborates with public affairs department regarding ongoing community relations programs.
• Will actively participate in the performance improvement process known as H3W.

• Performs other duties as required.
• Education:
  
  Bachelor's degree with training in pastoral care.
• Experience:
  
  One year experience in pastoral care, including experience in counseling the dying and the grieving.