WJC09 Session 3 - How Does Chaplaincy Practice Impact the Chaplain’s Spirituality and Potential for Professional Burnout or Thriving?

Description:

Overview:
This study asks a fundamental question relevant to all chaplains: how does our work impact our own spirituality and spiritual health? Further, using a mixed-methods design, this study is able to typify different types of spiritual changes that VA chaplains have experienced and correlate those changes with professional burnout or professional thriving. This session will help all chaplains to reflect on the impact their work has on their own spirituality and whether this is leading them towards health or burnout, as well as introduce mixed methods as a potent research tool for chaplains.

Learning Objectives:

• Explore chaplain professional quality of life related to how chaplaincy impacts chaplain personal spirituality
• Correlate spirituality changes with professional burnout and thriving, and be able to recognize these patterns in oneself
• Explore the use of mixed methods as a tool for research in religion, spirituality, and chaplaincy

Reading:
McCormick, W. H., Carroll, T. D., Slagel, B. A., Drescher, K. D., Nieuwsma, J. A., & Currier, J. M. (2017). Professional quality of life and changes in spirituality among VHA chaplains: A mixed methods investigation. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 23(3), 113-129

Presenters:
Rev. Marilyn J. D. Barnes MS MA MPH BCC, is a Vice President of Mission and Spiritual Care in the Advocate Aurora Health Care System in Illinois. She previously served as a Senior Staff Chaplain at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. She is a 2018 Transforming Chaplaincy Fellow graduate. Her research interests include the use of simulation in chaplaincy training and education, the impact of spiritual/religious coping on the association between discrimination and stress among midlife women, and the experiences of health care chaplains of color.

Cate Michelle Desjardins MDiv MPH, 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. Shelley Varner-Perez MDiv MPH BCC CPH, is Senior Program Manager and Chaplain-Researcher at Indiana University (IU) Health, Indianapolis, as well as an Affiliated Research Scientist in the Center for Aging Research with the Regenstrief Institute. She previously served nine years as a chaplain at VA Portland Health Care System in Portland, Oregon. She completed the Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellowship in 2019 at the conclusion of a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology. Her research interests include spiritual care with family surrogate decision-makers and staff support following code blue events, as well as using art to engage those who are non-religious/unaffiliated.

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.