Interprofessional spiritual care education in pediatric hematology-oncology: A pilot study.

Background Evidence and clinical guidelines call care team members to address the spiritual well-being of pediatric patients, especially adolescents and young adults (AYA), with cancer and blood disorders. However, the lack of relevant training in generalist spiritual care has been a key barrier. Therefore, we aimed to improve clinicians’ capabilities by utilizing the Interprofessional Spiritual Care Education Curriculum (ISPEC) to close this gap in pediatric hematology-oncology. A model of interprofessional spiritual care entails that all team members attend to patients’ spirituality by employing generalist spiritual care skills and collaborating with spiritual care specialists such as chaplains. Methods Interdisciplinary team members providing care for AYA with cancer and blood disorders were recruited to participate in interprofessional spiritual care education. Our intervention combined an evidence-based online curriculum and in-person discussion groups. Pretest-posttest study examined changes in participants’ skills and practices to identify, address, and discuss spiritual concerns. Surveys were conducted at baseline and at 1, 3, and 6 months after the intervention. Results Participants (n = 21) included physicians, advanced practice providers, nurse coordinators, and psychosocial team members. We observed positive changes in participants’ ability (36%, P < 0.01), frequency (56%, P = 0.01), confidence (32%, P < 0.01), and comfort (31%, P = 0.02) providing generalist spiritual care baseline versus one month, with significant gains maintained through six months (Omnibus P < 0.05). Conclusions Utilizing ISPEC, interprofessional spiritual care education has a strong potential to develop pediatric hematology-oncology team members’ capabilities to attend to the spiritual aspect of whole-person care and thus contribute to the well-being of AYA with cancer and blood disorders

Interprofessional spiritual care education in pediatric hematology-oncology: A pilot study

Background Evidence and clinical guidelines call care team members to address the spiritual well-being of pediatric patients, especially adolescents and young adults (AYA), with cancer and blood disorders. However, the lack of relevant training in generalist spiritual care has been a key barrier. Therefore, we aimed to improve clinicians’ capabilities by utilizing the Interprofessional Spiritual Care Education Curriculum (ISPEC) to close this gap in pediatric hematology-oncology. A model of interprofessional spiritual care entails that all team members attend to patients’ spirituality by employing generalist spiritual care skills and collaborating with spiritual care specialists such as chaplains. Methods Interdisciplinary team members providing care for AYA with cancer and blood disorders were recruited to participate in interprofessional spiritual care education. Our intervention combined an evidence-based online curriculum and in-person discussion groups. Pretest-posttest study examined changes in participants’ skills and practices to identify, address, and discuss spiritual concerns. Surveys were conducted at baseline and at 1, 3, and 6 months after the intervention. Results Participants (n = 21) included physicians, advanced practice providers, nurse coordinators, and psychosocial team members. We observed positive changes in participants’ ability (36%, P < 0.01), frequency (56%, P = 0.01), confidence (32%, P < 0.01), and comfort (31%, P = 0.02) providing generalist spiritual care baseline versus one month, with significant gains maintained through six months (Omnibus P < 0.05). Conclusions Utilizing ISPEC, interprofessional spiritual care education has a strong potential to develop pediatric hematology-oncology team members’ capabilities to attend to the spiritual aspect of whole-person care and thus contribute to the well-being of AYA with cancer and blood disorders

Staff Care in the Midst of Traumatic Events

Traumatic events bring upheaval and uncertainty. Yet not all difficult or jarring events are experienced as distressing, “traumatic,” or morally injurious by those present, the latter of which in military contexts involves an experience that violates one’s moral code or betrayal by once-trusted sources. Trauma has a certain subjective quality to it, as we learn from military personnel who may witness the same event and interpret or internalize it differently. Exposure to a potentially injurious event does not necessarily lead to post-traumatic stress or moral injury for all who witness the event. So, how do we define a traumatic event for the purposes of this eBook? Trauma overwhelms a person’s capacity to make meaning. Healthcare staff may experience traumatic events that tax their ability to respond, such as when a situation overwhelms their capabilities or when the details of an event intersect with current or past experiences, amplifying a common event to a traumatic level. The chaplain writers of this eBook chose a compilation of vignettes that incorporate multiple types of traumatic events. Some of these encounters are with individual staff members, while others occurred in staff groups. Some of these events are personal and individual, like a particularly jarring patient encounter, or intersection of personal story with professional experience; other events represent societal trauma such as experiences of racism, COVID-19, or attempts to disrupt activities of the federal government. Each traumatic event includes a particular chaplain’s approach to staff care, recognizing the contextual features of the encounter. Some vignettes are compilations, and details have been changed to protect privacy. A certified educator once described staff as the primary congregation the healthcare chaplain serves; in this metaphor, patients and families are visitors to the congregation. Though the specific words used for “staff” vary by setting (healthcare workers, team members, care partners, care receivers, professional caregivers, front line workers, employees, and so on), those who work and serve alongside chaplains are the metaphorical “regulars.” These co-laborers clean rooms, prep supplies, sterilize equipment, prepare food, compound medications, administer breathing treatments, process labs, perform surgeries, and manage conditions; each does their part to contribute to patients’ healing. With staff being integral to the flow and function of the setting, chaplains have a meaningful role in providing care to professional caregivers. Each vignette includes structural similarities: background about the encounter, the chaplain’s assessment (or, at times, the recipient’s self-assessment), chaplain-provided support or intervention, outcome or staff response, and the chaplain’s reflection or concluding thought. Recognizing a single setting has limitations and that no resource is exhaustive, the chaplain writers anticipate readers will adapt and modify these approaches to the benefit of other settings.Henry Luce Foundatio