Are Hospital Chaplains Under Stress in Hong Kong? Preliminary Results from a Pilot Study

Leung Andrew Luk

doi:10.3390/rel10050325

Abstract

In Hong Kong, healthcare professionals are under great stress when performing their duties in public hospitals, in which patient beds are usually fully occupied, and the workload is high. Hospital chaplains are members of the healthcare team in a hospital, as well: Are they also under stress? Furthermore, is there any relationship between religious experience and stress? This study aims to provide some background information about the health status of hospital chaplains, and to explore any relationships between stress and their spiritual experiences. A total of 100 hospital chaplains were invited to participate in this cross-sectional study, and a 60% valid response rate was obtained. Participants completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 and the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale. The results showed that most of the hospital chaplains (78.3%) have a normal stress level, and the prevalence of mild to severe symptoms of stress is low (21.7%) when compared with the stress levels of nurses (41.1%) found in another study. However, more anxiety was expressed by younger hospital chaplains; this is common in caring professions, and they should have mentoring and support. All hospital chaplains have a higher level of spiritual experiences, which was not found to be related to stress.

Highlights

The healthcare industry is one of the high-risk entities worldwide because of its high volume of users, the complexity of procedures, and the involvement of its many stakeholders
A chaplain working in hospitals in Hong Kong is a clergy who has received training in his/her own religions and additional clinical pastoral education. What are their religious experiences? Since they are members of the healthcare team in a hospital, are they under stress? is there any relationship between religious experience and stress? Since there is a lack of research on hospital chaplains in Hong Kong, this study aims to provide some background information about the health status of hospital chaplains and explore any relationship between stress and their spiritual experiences
Compared with a study of nurses in Hong Kong that revealed a prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress of 35.8%, 37.3%, and 41.1%, respectively (Cheung and Yip 2015), the present study shows that hospital chaplains have a much lower prevalence

Summary

Introduction

The healthcare industry is one of the high-risk entities worldwide because of its high volume of users, the complexity of procedures, and the involvement of its many stakeholders. Overseas studies have shown that healthcare professionals are under great stress, and are prone to burnout, despite engaging in an incredibly meaningful and personally fulfilling job (Golbasi et al 2008; Shanafelt et al 2012). In Hong Kong, healthcare professionals are under great stress when performing their duties in public hospitals, in which patient beds are usually fully occupied and the workload is high, if they are unprepared to face crises at work The chaplain is a member of the healthcare team in the hospitals in Hong Kong: Are they under stress from taking care of their clients, including patients and relatives, and from supporting hospital staff?. The hospital services are mainly provided by the public sector, which is the case for 80% (42).

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