Acute Care Staff Interactions with Chaplains to Discuss Team or Personal, Non-work-related Stressors
Location
Virtual
Start Date
1-3-2024 1:10 PM
End Date
1-3-2024 1:25 PM
Keywords:
montana; missoula; washington; spokane
Description
Background: Healthcare staff experience stress from the workplace when providing complex patient care and often may lean on specially trained spiritual support caregivers, or chaplains, for support navigating patient-related stressors. Yet, healthcare staff can also suffer from team-related or personal stressors that, if unresolved, could negatively impact care delivery. Little is known about whether, how often, and which staff may interact with chaplains for emotional support when experiencing non-patient-related stressors originating from work or personal lives.
Purpose: To describe the proportion of individuals who report discussing team-related or personal stressors with chaplains in the past 12 months, and to test for demographic and occupational differences between groups.
Methods: A survey-based study of staff from a multi-state, Catholic health system was conducted from February to April 2022. Variables analyzed in this report include demographics (i.e. sex, ethnicity, religious affiliation, role type, shift worked, etc.). Two author-created items quantified frequency of interactions with chaplains in the prior 12 months discussing team (i.e. staffing, team communication issues etc.) or personal, non-work-related (i.e. illness of self or loved one, conflict at home etc.) stressors ranging from never to weekly. Individuals were grouped as those who indicated at least one interaction with the chaplain for a team stressor or personal stressor in the past year and those who indicated none. Proportions were calculated descriptively, and a series of chi-square tests compared groups by demographic variables.
Results: Of 1376 participants, 372 (27%) reported at least one interaction with the chaplain in the past year to discuss personal, non-work-related stressors and 454 (33%) for team related stressors; the average frequency of interactions to discuss personal stress was between two to four times in the past 12 months. Several demographic differences emerged such that those who reported at least one interaction for non-patient related stressors, compared to those who did not, were more likely to: self-identify as Catholic/Protestant, work in a hospital with less than 100 beds, be a nurse or technical staff member, and work the day shift (p<0.05. Participants who reported an interaction to discuss team, but not personal, stressors with chaplains, were more likely to work a critical care specialty and report 10 or more years of experience than those who reported none in the past year (p<0.01).
Conclusions: Over a quarter of our participants reported at least one interaction with a chaplain to discuss non-patient related stressors in the past year. Participants were more likely to report these interactions from our study when reporting Catholic/Protestant religious affiliation, working day shift, and working in a small hospital. More research is needed to quantify outcomes associated with these interactions.
Implications for Practice: Chaplains possess special skill sets to improve emotional and spiritual wellbeing and may do so for healthcare staff by discussing stressors outside of patient-related issues. Healthcare staff employed in a setting with chaplains may use these professionals as a resource to navigate stressors inside and outside of the workplace. Leaders should advocate for all staff to discuss patient and non-patient stressors with trusted chaplains.
Recommended Citation
Weisbrich, Gary; Sumner, Sarah; and Rangel, Teresa, "Acute Care Staff Interactions with Chaplains to Discuss Team or Personal, Non-work-related Stressors" (2024). Providence Nursing Research Conference 2023 – Present. 24.
https://digitalcommons.providence.org/prov_rn_conf_annual/2024/podiums/24
Area of Special Interest
Mental Health
Specialty/Research Institute
Critical Care Medicine
Specialty/Research Institute
Behavioral Health
Specialty/Research Institute
Pastoral Care
Included in
Behavioral Medicine Commons, Critical Care Commons, Nursing Commons
Acute Care Staff Interactions with Chaplains to Discuss Team or Personal, Non-work-related Stressors
Virtual
Background: Healthcare staff experience stress from the workplace when providing complex patient care and often may lean on specially trained spiritual support caregivers, or chaplains, for support navigating patient-related stressors. Yet, healthcare staff can also suffer from team-related or personal stressors that, if unresolved, could negatively impact care delivery. Little is known about whether, how often, and which staff may interact with chaplains for emotional support when experiencing non-patient-related stressors originating from work or personal lives.
Purpose: To describe the proportion of individuals who report discussing team-related or personal stressors with chaplains in the past 12 months, and to test for demographic and occupational differences between groups.
Methods: A survey-based study of staff from a multi-state, Catholic health system was conducted from February to April 2022. Variables analyzed in this report include demographics (i.e. sex, ethnicity, religious affiliation, role type, shift worked, etc.). Two author-created items quantified frequency of interactions with chaplains in the prior 12 months discussing team (i.e. staffing, team communication issues etc.) or personal, non-work-related (i.e. illness of self or loved one, conflict at home etc.) stressors ranging from never to weekly. Individuals were grouped as those who indicated at least one interaction with the chaplain for a team stressor or personal stressor in the past year and those who indicated none. Proportions were calculated descriptively, and a series of chi-square tests compared groups by demographic variables.
Results: Of 1376 participants, 372 (27%) reported at least one interaction with the chaplain in the past year to discuss personal, non-work-related stressors and 454 (33%) for team related stressors; the average frequency of interactions to discuss personal stress was between two to four times in the past 12 months. Several demographic differences emerged such that those who reported at least one interaction for non-patient related stressors, compared to those who did not, were more likely to: self-identify as Catholic/Protestant, work in a hospital with less than 100 beds, be a nurse or technical staff member, and work the day shift (p<0.05. Participants who reported an interaction to discuss team, but not personal, stressors with chaplains, were more likely to work a critical care specialty and report 10 or more years of experience than those who reported none in the past year (p<0.01).
Conclusions: Over a quarter of our participants reported at least one interaction with a chaplain to discuss non-patient related stressors in the past year. Participants were more likely to report these interactions from our study when reporting Catholic/Protestant religious affiliation, working day shift, and working in a small hospital. More research is needed to quantify outcomes associated with these interactions.
Implications for Practice: Chaplains possess special skill sets to improve emotional and spiritual wellbeing and may do so for healthcare staff by discussing stressors outside of patient-related issues. Healthcare staff employed in a setting with chaplains may use these professionals as a resource to navigate stressors inside and outside of the workplace. Leaders should advocate for all staff to discuss patient and non-patient stressors with trusted chaplains.
