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Salem Hospital
Pastoral Care Department
665 Winter St. SE
PO Box 14001
Salem OR 97309
http://www.salemhospital.org/pastoralcare

Describe your site
Salem Hospital is an acute care facility with 454 licensed beds. There are five facilities that comprise the hospital – the main acute facility, the Center for Out-patient Medicine, Psychiatric Medicine, Family Birth Center, and the Rehabilitation Center. Salem Hospital is the only hospital facility in Salem and the Level 3 trauma center for the region. Many of the programs of the hospital (Cancer, Rehab. Psych., Open Heart Surgery) serve residents from a four county area.

The Pastoral Care department has 3.5 FTEs with 4 chaplains. We serve all of the units of the hospital and cover crises on-call 24/7 364 days/year. Spiritual needs of patients are served from all Christian denominations, Jewish, Buddhist, Islam and Native American. Pastoral Care staff are a part of the health care team and as such, participate in patient care plans, family conferences, and crises intervention and provide pastoral care support for staff.

Describe the scope of the internship
Goals

• Encourage a student to examine chaplaincy as a vocational choice or to gain understanding of this part of the total care of patients if they would choose to go into the healthcare field.
• Provide a specific project for the Intern to develop that will help future pastoral care at the hospital.
• Sharpen pastoral care skills that a student can use in any future occupational choice.

Tasks of the Intern

• Provide spiritual care to hospitalized patients in a variety of situations and circumstances
• Share in the support of families in crises, particularly at times of trauma, codes and death
• Experience the full scope of chaplaincy in a hospital
• Provide information and help with Advance Directives for patients and families
• Develop a project to explore pastoral care services. For 2008 projects could include a study of ways to increase patient satisfaction with pastoral care services, and/or development of devotional resources for patients such as a prayer before meal card, etc.

Typical week

• Most of the week will be during the daytime hours, Monday – Friday depending on the total number of hours to be worked as a part of the internship.
• The student will have an opportunity to visit patients in all units of the hospital.
• At times, the student may wish to shadow a chaplain on-call during night and weekend call. This will give an opportunity to observe crisis response to traumas and cardiac and respiratory arrest and death.
• After an initial training and orientation time, the intern will add to their weekly schedule work on the project as listed above.

Who will provide supervision?
Barry B. Heath, D. Min., Director of Pastoral Care

• Has supervised college and seminary students both at the hospital and in the parish
• Is currently head of chaplains staff and as such supervises this staff
• As Head-of-staff of three parishes for a total of 24 years, has supervised paid and volunteer staff

Noel Phillips, D. Min., Chaplain

• Is currently the Stephen Ministry trainer and, as such, supervises 8 Stephen Ministers in their care of patients
• Noel also has completed 4 units of Clinical Pastoral Education and was part of peer support and supervision.

Who will provide Theological and Vocational reflection?

• See above two persons
• The entire chaplain staff as the Intern works with them
• The patients and staff

What vocational questions might be addressed?

• How might I discern a call to ministry?
• How do I serve people of many faiths that are different than my own and people who have spiritual needs but are not a part of an organized faith community?
• What gifts do I have to support people in crisis?
• Am I able to be present with people in their problems rather then solving them?
• Can I work in a team or am I an independent worker?
• How do I respect and work together with other professionals and their gifts?
• How do I find the support I need to deal with crisis situations, and patients who are dying or die?
  

What gifts, skills and experience would you seek in an intern?

• Compassion, active listener, self-awareness of gifts and limitations, team player
• An awareness of one’s own theological beliefs that respects and can minister to persons of different theological positions and religious beliefs
• Comfortable with praying with people
• Able to work independently but a part of a team
• Experience as a part of a religious tradition

Logistics
Driving – Only if the person will be going to the Rehabilitation Unit on Center St. and/or Home Health.
Housing – No.
What 10 weeks – Any 10 week segment of time during the summer that works for the student.

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