Author: scblair

Why We Get Complicated Grief Wrong

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I recently switched positions in my company to help manage our bereavement services. Don’t worry – I’m still in the field as a chaplain as well (with a very limited caseload – something I asked for)! I had a great deal of experience working in bereavement in my prior company so this has been a good fit so far.

However this move has brought up something that has always bothered me. That is even though that the staff I work with on a daily basis has years of experience in hospice care we still struggle with measuring and even recognizing complicated grief and bereavement. Continue reading →

Getting Your Foot in the Door: 8 Ways to reduce “declines” for chaplains

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the chaplain makes his rounds

One issue that I see frequently coming across chaplain discussion boards is that many have increasing numbers of those declining chaplain support. One poster, a hospice chaplain in Georgia, said her declines went from 10% five years ago to about 35% now.

Many believe that the refusal of spiritual support is due to a decline in religiosity overall in our country and culture. That may be true, but I don’t think it accounts for the majority of declines. Even though the Pew Research Center found a nearly 8 point percentage drop in those professing Christianity between 2007 and 2014, about 70% of Americans still identify as a member of some Christian church or faith group. From my own experience I can say as that I have had many accepting of chaplain support who were atheist or agnostic, or believed in God but did not consider themselves religious.  And no these were not millennials, these were your typical elderly hospice patient. Continue reading →

Spiritual Communication Boards for the Critically Ill: Wall Street Journal

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This came across the line from the APC and thought it was such a brilliant and simple idea. The text is included below but please access the full article here.

A ‘Spiritual Board’ Brings Comfort to the Critically Ill

A chaplain at a New York hospital has designed a board that lets the critically ill communicate their spiritual pain and needs

By

LUCETTE LAGNADO

Updated Feb. 21, 2017 12:14 p.m. ET

When William Campion was in the intensive-care unit this month after a double lung transplant, he felt nervous and scared and could breathe only with the help of a machine.

Joel Nightingale Berning, a chaplain at Mr. Campion’s hospital, New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, stopped by. He saw that Mr. Campion had a tube in his neck and windpipe, which prevented him from speaking. The chaplain held up a communication board—not the kind used to check a patient’s physical pain and needs, but a “spiritual board” that asks if he or she would like a blessing, a prayer or another religious ministry. The board also lets patients rate their level of spiritual pain on a scale of 0 through 10, from none to “extreme.” Continue reading →

When All is Said and Done: Death and “Magic Words”

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Your average hospice chaplain. Probably had 3 units of Level II CPE.

Recently I had a family whose mother was on hospice with us. When Isabel* had a sudden decline and became active her family gathered around the bedside and all started to say the things that families and caregivers – including hospice staff – feel that they need to say in order for the dying person to “let go”. They all said that they loved her and that they would be OK. They had out of town family come in and say good-bye in person and on the phone. They told her over and over again that it was OK for her to go. The priest gave last rites. This went on for well over a week.

Needless to say it was rough. The family came and went, said what they needed to say, and still Isabel seemed to hang on. There were a lot of thoughts and questions: “What haven’t we said? Is there someone that hasn’t said goodbye yet? Is she waiting to hear from someone? What are we missing? Why is she still here?”

My best response was, “I don’t know.”

Continue reading →

Support our Nicaragua Trip!

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la-ben-1

Something a little different if you don’t mind…

In June 2017, my family will have an opportunity to go on an international mission trip to Nicaragua.  The trip is being coordinated through our church, New Community Church, in partnership with Agros International.  This trip is the seventh team from our church to go into Nicaragua to build relationships that both support and encourage the people there who are working hard to move out of extreme poverty using loans provided by Agros International. Continue reading →

The Unproductive Chaplain

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welcome to the machine

welcome to the machine

I wrote previously how chaplains need to be productive, and how to do that. I now want to unravel all that. Productivity may be how we prove our worth to our employers, however it can also run counter to how we do that, and even to our ability to do that. Continue reading →

Merry Christmas from the Chaplain’s Report!

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I wanted to pass along my thanks to all of my readers. This blog has reached far beyond where I thought it could. I’ve had over 18,000 visitors this year from every continent in the world. Thank you!

This year – and this month – have been especially busy so I haven’t had the time to write as I want, but look for something soon. Keep sharing!

God bless you, wherever you are. Continue in the good work that God has for you to do.

The Productive Chaplain

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here we see a Chaplain being productive…

If you’re a professional chaplain you have probably heard this phrase: “Let’s talk about your productivity.” For anyone the “productivity” talk is uncomfortable. For chaplains this talk is often more uncomfortable because what we “do” and “produce” can be very hard to grasp. Continue reading →

Chaplain Kerry Egan On Fresh Air: ‘On Living’ 

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Hospital and Hospice Chaplain Kerry Egan was recently featured in an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air. The interview concerns her new book based on insights she’s had over the years working with dying patients. It’s not only a great look at chaplaincy for those who’ve never encountered it, but full of great “a-ha” moments for those of us serving as Chaplains.

Some highlights are found here.

Hear the Fresh Air program for October 31, 2016

Source: Kerry Egan On Fresh Air: ‘On Living’ : Shots – Health News : NPR

Effective Swearing for Chaplains (and Other Clergy Too!)

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***trigger alert: as this is a post about colorful language, be aware that there is colorful language abounding after the jump***

Clergy, sometimes it’s OK to use swear words. That’s the summary. For the full text click below, but language aboundeth herein…

Continue reading →