Intensive Care Clinicians’ Views on the Role of Chaplains

Abstract

There is evidence that addressing the religious and spiritual needs of patients has positive effects on patient satisfaction and health care utilization. However, in the intensive care unit (ICU), chaplains are often consulted only at the very end of life, thereby leaving patients’ spiritual needs unmet. This study looked at the views of 219 ICU clinicians on the role of chaplains. We found that all clinicians find chaplains helpful when a patient is dying or when the chaplain brings up religious or spiritual topics. Physicians find chaplains less helpful in other clinical scenarios such as challenging family meetings or when patients are recovering. Nurses are more likely to consult chaplains for a difficult family meeting or when patients are recovering from critical illness. Communication between clinicians and chaplains, both directly and indirectly through electronic health record notes, remains infrequent, highlighting the need for interventions aimed at improving multidisciplinary spiritual care.