1 Promote the integration of spiritual care into the life and service of the institution in which one functions.
OL 1 is about promoting spiritual care in your institution. In previous competencies, there was discussion about how chaplains needed data to show how their care is a net gain for patients, hospital admins like to see this. This competency can be demonstrated through similar methods.
The 1990s saw spirituality as a new trend in workplaces. A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America noted that people in the workplace wanted to realize their full potential as a human being through their work.[1] The Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion was started in 2004. One helpful study for hospital chaplains comes from Duchon and Plowman. They surveyed hospital units and were able to find an association between higher work performance and higher spirituality (spirit-friendly climate) in the unit.[2] One more empirical study to bolster your position from research is from Rego and Pina e Cunha which found that when people are involved in richly spiritual organizations, they become more productive and committed, with the opposite being demonstrated as well.[3]
Your hospital will most likely have a mission statement of some kind including things like excellence, teamwork, patient first, etc. You need to demonstrate how you support that mission. You also need to demonstrate one example where you intentionally elevated the role of spiritual care. The more examples the better for exceeding the competency, even in the case of appropriately challenging or honing those values.
For example, excellence is one of the values of my organization. This is played out as they offer substantial opportunities for furthering education for staff. The Fall of 2024 was the ninth time I’ve gone through the process for some type of educational reimbursement and I frequently help others to navigate how to improve their education and realize their full potential. Or, for many chaplains who engage with nurse’s week a “blessing of the hands” may be a good start to demonstrating this competency.
[1] Ian Mitroff and Elizabeth Denton, A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America: A Hard Look at Spirituality, Religion, and Values in the Workplace (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999), 36.
[2] Dennis Duchon and Ashmos Plowman, “Nurturing the Spirit at Work: Impact on Work Unit Performance,” The Leadership Quarterly 16, no. 5 (2005): 821-822.
[3] Arménio Rego and Pina e Cunha, “Workplace Spirituality and Organizational Commitment: An Empirical Study,” Miguel Journal of Organizational Change Management 21, Issue 1, (2008): 69.
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