Working together
In an article by Emily Mclung "Collaborating with chaplains to meet spiritual needs", nurse McLung talks about working with chaplains. Her opening paragraphs provide extensive references to how nurses have had to deal with many mandates that indicate the expected role of the nurse to include the need to attend to patients' spiritual as well as physical needs.
Despite these multiple mandates, nurses often flounder when attending to patients' spiritual needs for several reasons. Studies show that there is a widespread feeling of inadequacy among nurses in the United States in this regard. (This appears to be true in Britain as well as in America.) When asked why nurses felt this was the case, they pointed to a lack of time and a lack of education. So nurses are encouraged to turn to chaplains for help.
The article by Mclung was written to provide an overview of the qualifications, roles, and functions of chaplaincy services in health care, and offer guidelines for nurses to collaborate with chaplains to provide spiritual care to patients and families.
It is with such concerns in mind that the WELS Health and Wellness Ccommittee has undertaken a program of study and curriculum design to enable the WELS to bring together the mandates of patients, the nursing profession, and those of health care providers and their respective organizations to develop a program of Chaplain certification.
Adopted as one of the most important programs currently before the church, the Special Ministries Board of WELS has determined to authorize the study of chaplian certification, and to develop proposal iniatives, not only to meet the needs of Chaplains in health care programs, but also those serving in the military, individuals serving in prison ministries, and those serving and working within local congregations and on educational campuses.
Because there is such wide spread confusion and inconsistency in doctrine and practice among those who may claim to represent the Gospel and aspire to the office of Chaplain, it becomes increasingly clear that our WELS needs to address these matters as quickly and thoroughly as possible. What is more, since the health care delivery systems as we know them today are placing more and more emphasis on human spirituality as part of the overall wellness of human beings, the church needs to see more than ever before its mandate from the Scriptures to share the Gospel with all people as inclusive of those who are sick and suffering and alone.
To carry out the Scriptural directives and fulfill the mandates of health-care, nurses and chaplains need to be trained and encouraged to further collaborate in their service to the Lord and ministries to His people. This will, in part, guide the content of this WELS-HWC.com blog. In the spirit of collaboration comments will be welcomed and contributions will be sought. FAK.
