Spiritual Care Coordinator

Location: Melbourne | Northern Metropolitan

Job type: Not provided

Organisation: The Royal Women's Hospital

**Salary**: Salary not specified

Occupation: Administration/Secretarial

Reference: 24714

**Role: Spiritual Care Coordinator**
**Department: Social Work Department
- Spiritual Care Service**

**Hours: 30.4 Hours/.8eft ongoing part time**

The Royal Women’s Hospital is Australia’s first and largest specialist hospital dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of newborns and women of all ages. To join the Women’s is to be instrumental in forging progress towards health equity for women from ground-breaking research through to the bedside delivery of multi-disciplinary clinical care.
Creating exceptional experiences is at the heart of everything we do for our patients, their families, and our people across our specialised services within maternity, neonatal and women’s health.
Department/Unit Specific Overview
The Spiritual Care team is part of the Social Work department and operates across all areas of the hospital. The Spiritual Care team offers support to patients, their families and carers through their maternity, neonatal, gynaecological and oncology experiences. Spiritual care acknowledges and supports referred patients that draw strength and support from their religious traditions and faith or none. The Spiritual Care team also provides assessment, counselling, emotional and spiritual support and ritual in matter of a person’s beliefs, traditions, values and practices to patients, their families, carers, staff and volunteers. Spiritual Care embraces a view of patient health that is holistic, recognising the importance of spiritual care as an integral part of person-centred care. The team works also can work with staff and with people from all communities and is inclusive of all beliefs, traditions, values and practices.

**Position Purpose**

The Spiritual Care Coordinator will lead the continued development of the Spiritual Care program at the Women’s. The Coordinator is responsible for the coordination, supervision and leadership of a team of Spiritual Care practitioners to ensure that the spiritual care needs of patients, their families, carers and staff, inclusive of all beliefs, are identified and addressed. The incumbent will also be required to undertake direct Spiritual Care clinical practice.

**Your contribution**

Your duties will include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Lead and undertake direct clinical practice in Spiritual Care including Spiritual screening, assessment, counselling, support and ritual in matters of a person’s beliefs, traditions, values and practices.
- Lead as well as undertake direct clinical practice in spiritual care planning and bereavement care
- Ensure all people have access to the Spiritual Care service with ease and ensure prompt assessment of new referrals as well as allocation and prioritisation of caseloads
- Provide service coordination and professional management supervision to the Spiritual Care team [currently one practitioner].
- Ensure that the Spiritual Care team obtain regular internal and external supervision in accordance with the relevant practice standards of professional body Spiritual Care Australia
- Provide the Spiritual Care team with informed secondary consultations and assist in making informed referrals and developing plans to support exceptional patient care
- Provide the Spiritual Care team with the opportunity to debrief after complex or distressing intakes and interventions including counselling sessions
- Provide information regarding services, supports and referral options to staff and patients as required
- Demonstrate an understanding of cultural issues with a view to provision of culturally safe and responsive care which is inclusive of all communities and beliefs, practices and traditions
- Provide leadership and management to a cohesive, credentialed team of Spiritual Care practitioners and ensure best practice in the area of Spiritual Care
- Provide leadership for rituals, memorial services, public worship and events to meet the needs of patients, their families, carers and staff
- Ensure all Spiritual Care staff complete an annual performance development review
- Provide coaching - engage with the Spiritual Care practitioners in developing and committing to their plan that targets specific behaviours, skills or knowledge needed to ensure performance improvement

**To be successful within this role you will need to have**:

- Postgraduate or Master’s qualifications in social sciences, theology or other human services
- At least 5 years’ experience working in the spiritual care field in a public health context including provision of spiritual care in a hospital with patients with complex needs and in bereavement care
- Demonstrated leadership skills and administrative skills as a Coordinator/Manager or Senior Spiritual Care Practitioner
- Supervised training in providing spiritual care