Chaplains and Quality Improvement: Can We Make Our Case by Improving Our Care?

摘要

To date, the field of health care chaplaincy has little information about what constitutes “quality spiritual care.” A qualitative study of four focus groups in New York, Illinois, Arizona, and California was conducted to gather preliminary information about how health care chaplains' experience and understand “quality” and “quality improvement” in spiritual care. The study revealed that many chaplains feel a tension inherent in the task of measuring spiritual care services; how does one evaluate interactions that may seem ineffable? The study also enumerated chaplains' creative efforts, often shaped by institutional contexts and cultures, to address these difficulties in measuring spiritual services. To encourage local efforts to improve the quality of spiritual care and increase chaplains' contributions to improving health care quality, this article focuses on these context-specific projects and ideas. It also makes general recommendations aimed at promoting the development of promising practices for the field.