WJC12 Session 4 - Preventing Burnout and Restoring Meaning in Work: The Example of Compassion Rounds in the Neonatal ICU

Description:

Overview:
This session of WJC will offer an in-depth look at an intervention involving chaplains, parents, and clinicians in a Neonatal ICU setting that has the potential to prevent or overcome clinician burnout, restore meaning of work to clinicians, and create interdisciplinary trust: Compassion Rounds. This qualitative paper deeply explores the outcomes of a Compassion Rounds program in the NICU, offering us a model of program evaluation and outcomes evaluation in chaplaincy, as well as a replicable model of an intervention that may be effective in chaplains aims of staff care in many settings. The intervention had positive effects not only on clinicians, but also on NICU parents, showing that when properly designed and implemented, chaplaincy interventions can spiritually support multiple groups simultaneously. Participants in this session of WJC will learn about this model of Compassion Rounds as well as how the authors of the paper evaluated the program for spiritual effectiveness.

Learning Objectives:

• Explore how Compassion Rounds shared between chaplains, clinicians, and parents may have positive spiritual effects for all three groups
• Gain an understanding of qualitative research as a program and intervention assessment tool in chaplaincy
• Help chaplains develop and maintain research literacy, including the ability to critically read a qualitative paper using grounded-theory methodology and, where appropriate, apply the findings to their professional practice

Reading:
Reading: McManus K, & Robinson PS, (2022). A thematic analysis of the effects of compassion rounds on clinicians and the families of NICU patients, Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 28(1), pp. 69-80. doi: 10.1080/08854726.2020.1745489

Presenters:
Cate Michelle Desjardins MDiv MPH BCC, is the Executive Director of Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship and convener of the Pediatrics Spiritual Care Research Network. She previously served for five years in various roles at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Her research interests include the role of religion in surrogate decision-making and in coping with caregiving for children with complex medical needs. She completed the Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellowship in 2019.

Rev. Beth Muehlhausen PhD MDiv BCC LCSW is a spiritual care researcher and instructor with Transforming Chaplaincy. She previously served for four years as the Sr. Researcher for Mission Integration for Ascension. She is a qualitative researcher utilizing hermeneutic phenomenology and mixed methods. She has published several articles on spirituality, chaplaincy, and spiritual care during the pandemic. She has presented several workshops and intensives at the annual APC conference, for NACC and the North American Association of Christians in Social Work.

How It Works:
When you purchase this recording, you will receive a link to access the recording. There will also be a link to access in the My Downloads and Links section of your APC profile.