Click on the links below for a specific area, or visit our Certificate Programs.
General Spiritual Care for Chaplaincy * Spiritual Care for Nurses * Spiritual Care for Social Workers * Preparation for Board Certification or Credentialing * Chaplaincy Care Volunteer Training
General Self-Guided Courses
Hours
30
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
This course, is for those of all health care disciplines, settings, and roles who desire to know more about being a spiritual care generalist within their scope of practice. The course will provide an overview of spirituality and religion, the benefits of spiritual care, spiritual distress, spiritual screening, and spiritual conversations as well as core skills that can improve the interventions that generalists provide. In addition, the benefits of specialist level spiritual care and team collaboration will also be explored.
Hours
25
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
Chaplains and other health care professionals as well as spiritual care providers need demonstrated proficiency in various aspects of communication. This course will review listening skills and methods, effective verbal and non-verbal practices, group communication, conflict resolution, negotiation, and goal clarification.
Hours
25
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
Participants will learn the differences between pastoral and secular counseling, short-term counseling processes appropriate in health care settings, working with traumatic events, family systems, and grief and bereavement.
Hours
20
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
Spiritual assessment and document is central to the work of health care chaplains and all committed to the integration of spirituality into whole person health care. This course focuses on understanding the rationale, goals, and process of assessment and documentation in order to contribute effectively by identifying and incorporating patient and family beliefs, values, needs, and practices into the interdisciplinary approach to care.
Hours
35
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
This course identifies the ethical and moral challenges that occur in health care and the importance of understanding patient and family beliefs, values, cultures and preferences in resolving any conflicts. The role and contribution of the chaplain and other spiritual care providers in direct care and ethics committees will also be addressed.
Hours
25
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
Cultural competence includes self-awareness and the professional ability to assess, document, and provide interventions so that persons' beliefs, values, and practices are integrated into their plan of care. This course will also address the needs of vulnerable patient populations including persons who are non-resident aliens, LGBTQ, homeless, incarcerated, low health literate, and mentally challenged.
Hours
25
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
Chaplains and other spiritual care providers are often called upon to provide emotional and spiritual support to members of the interdisciplinary team, especially in times of crisis and stress. This course will provide information, practices, and resources on topics including compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, burnout, one-on-one and small group work and the appropriate use of ritual.
Hours
35
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
Working with pediatric patients requires unique skills in understanding children's emotional and spiritual development, reaction to illness and injury, and the child's experience of the health care setting and treatment. This module provides information on providing age-appropriate care around these topics, including providing support and care to parents, and the unique challenges of end of life care for pediatric patients.
Hours
25
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
Perinatal death is one of the most profound emotional, cognitive, psychological, spiritual, and physiological losses a mother, father, and family can suffer. This module provides an overview of the epidemiology of perinatal death, the trauma of the experience, spiritual and psychological issues, and ways in which chaplains and others committed to spirituality in health care can assist the family in their grief through ritual and other interventions.
Hours
25
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
This course will assist learners in understanding and applying concepts about dementia to their care of patients with Alzheimer's disease and other conditions in which cognition, memory, and expression are impaired. It will provide information on how chaplains and spiritual care providers can mentor and support patients and work collaboratively with families and other members of the health care team.
Hours
25
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
This module describes the process of grief, offers current theories that have relevance to assisting grieving individuals, and identifies sensitivities, skills, and tools to assist the learner in understanding particular factors in various types of loss. Also explored will be the concept of disenfranchised grief, which is a reminder that the experience of grief encompasses far more than the death of a family member or loved one
Hours
35
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
Community religious, spiritual, and existential leaders provide care to persons within their communities at all stages of life, including that of terminal illness, the process of dying, and death itself. This module addresses the various aspects of end of life care will be presented and discussed, including the dying process and physiological changes, advance care planning, conflicts that may occur between dying persons and families, palliative care, and hospice. Issues of emotional and spiritual, religious, and existential distress will be identified as well as appropriate interventions, cultural, religious, spiritual and existential practices, and care of the family.
Hours
25
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
This module, Delivery and Continuity of Care for Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care will guide the learner through an overview of health care delivery and continuity of care with information, activities, and resources to increase understanding of the United States system. It will also encourage the learner to consider how chaplaincy and spiritual care is, is not, or can be delivered and continued throughout a person’s experience and health care journey. Learners will be provided with opportunities to articulate their new knowledge and consider practical ways to integrate it into their scope of practice, provision of care, best practices, and protocols as well as for consideration for quality improvement and research projects.
Hours
25
Course Type
Self-Guided
Course Description
This module, What We Do Matters: Continuous Quality Improvement within Chaplaincy and Health Care, is designed to enable learners to be a full participant in CQI processes and to establish and sustain a CQI program for a chaplaincy or spiritual care service using Lean and Six Sigma. Participants will learn the basic language in order to recognize CQI’s underlying assumptions, language, and processes. The module will teach assumptions and language that is pretty much universal to all CQI systems and the language particular to Lean Six Sigma which is the most widely used system. Participants will learn how to set up and run simple Lean or Six Sigma projects and be able to avoid the most common mistakes in this process. Examples from hospital practice will be provided.
Hours
20
Course Type
Self-Guided
Course Description
In 1996, the United States Congress passed The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA). This federal law was originally intended to establish three desired outcomes: a uniform standard for processing electronic healthcare claims and records across the United States; standards to protect the security of patient information; and privacy rules that all Healthcare Providers, Covered Entities, and Business Associates must follow. It is one of the most asked about and misunderstood issues in health care. This course, What to do with Information: HIPAA Compliance, gives a history of HIPAA, focuses on its implications of HIPAA for the health care industry, healthcare chaplains and spiritual care providers, and patients
Hours
20
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
Advance care planning and the completion of health care directives are an important element of a patient's plan of care, and many chaplains and spiritual care providers are involved within their setting in assisting in ACP completion and/or advocating for a person's wishes regarding their care. This module will address the characteristics of advance directives with special emphasis on best practices in having conversations with patients, families, and the other members of the health care team.
Hours
30
Course Type
Self-Guided
Course Description
Building and maintaining a chaplaincy department is the core responsibility of chaplain directors, managers, and other leaders. This module addresses the basics involved to develop a department, whether as a new director or one who wishes to ensure that the department enhances the work of chaplaincy, contributes to the organization, and meets regulatory guidelines. Through a step-by-step process this module, Building and Maintaining a Chaplaincy Department, provides the student with resources and samples of the details to be addressed, including planning and implementation.
Looking for resources to train your spiritual care volunteers? Click here to learn more.
Self-Guided Courses for Nurses
These continuing nursing education activities were approved by the Maryland Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. The number of Contact Hours are listed next to each course below.
Hours
Course
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
The Spirituality and Aging for Nurses and Social Workers course focuses on understanding and meeting the spiritual care needs of patients who are 65 or older as they experience the aging process. The course provides evidence-based knowledge, interventions, and application to empower nurses and social workers to integrate spiritual care skills in their daily patient care, regardless of a patient’s religion, spirituality, existential beliefs, or lack of stated beliefs.
Hours
30
Course
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
This course, is for those of all health care disciplines, settings, and roles who desire to know more about being a spiritual care generalist within their scope of practice. The course will provide an overview of spirituality and religion, the benefits of spiritual care, spiritual distress, spiritual screening, and spiritual conversations as well as core skills that can improve the interventions that generalists provide. In addition, the benefits of specialist level spiritual care and team collaboration will also be explored.
Hours
27.7
Course
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
All health care professionals encounter diversity when caring for patients and their families. This course is designed for providers from all disciplines. This course will address cultural competence, including self-awareness and effective ways to assess, document, and provide interventions so that persons' beliefs, values, and practices are integrated into their plan of care. It also discusses the needs of vulnerable patient populations including persons who are non-resident aliens, LGBTQ, homeless, incarcerated, low health literate, and mentally challenged.
Hours
23.6
Course
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
This module provides health care professionals from all disciplines information on the process of grief, offers current theories that have relevance to assisting grieving individuals, and identifies sensitivities, skills, and tools to assist the learner in understanding particular factors in various types of loss. Also explored will be the concept of disenfranchised grief, which is a reminder that the experience of grief encompasses far more than the death of a family member or loved one.
Hours
23.6
Course
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
Health care professionals from all disciplines often find themselves in situations with patients and families when counseling skills are necessary. This course describes the differences between spiritually-based and secular counseling, short-term counseling processes appropriate in health care settings, working with traumatic events, family systems, and grief and bereavement.
Hours
20
Course
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
All health care professionals and providers need demonstrated proficiency in various aspects of communication. This course will review listening skills and methods, effective verbal and non-verbal practices, group communication, conflict resolution, negotiation, and goal clarification in order to provide the learner with effective tools for their daily use.
Looking for resources to train your spiritual care volunteers? Click here to learn more.
Self-Guided Courses for Social Workers
These activities are pending approval from the National Association of Social Workers.
Hours
Course
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
The Spirituality and Aging for Nurses and Social Workers course focuses on understanding and meeting the spiritual care needs of patients who are 65 or older as they experience the aging process. The course provides evidence-based knowledge, interventions, and application to empower nurses and social workers to integrate spiritual care skills in their daily patient care, regardless of a patient’s religion, spirituality, existential beliefs, or lack of stated beliefs.
Hours
12
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
This course, is for those of all health care disciplines, settings, and roles who desire to know more about being a spiritual care generalist within their scope of practice. The course will provide an overview of spirituality and religion, the benefits of spiritual care, spiritual distress, spiritual screening, and spiritual conversations as well as core skills that can improve the interventions that generalists provide. In addition, the benefits of specialist level spiritual care and team collaboration will also be explored.
Hours
TBA
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
All health care professionals encounter diversity when caring for patients and their families. This course is designed for providers from all disciplines. This course will address cultural competence, including self-awareness and effective ways to assess, document, and provide interventions so that persons' beliefs, values, and practices are integrated into their plan of care. It also discusses the needs of vulnerable patient populations including persons who are non-resident aliens, LGBTQ, homeless, incarcerated, low health literate, and mentally challenged.
Hours
TBA
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
This course, is designed to introduce the concepts of biomedical ethics and assist the foundational level chaplain in understanding and applying those concepts to daily professional practice. It includes information on how diverse beliefs and values due to cultural, religious, spiritual, and/or existential beliefs may impact a patient or family’s experience and decision-making. Chaplains are in the unique position of serving as mediators and facilitators in the interaction of and care for patients, families, and staff. This course will explore the ethical issues in health care, including the nuanced applications of ethical principles and theories in a case study example.
Hours
TBA
Course Type
Self-Guided
Author
Course Description
The Spiritual Care Knowledge Base training series teaches chaplains and spiritual care providers the core principles to enhance their knowledge and equip their practice. The series also provides education for those from other health care disciplines who are committed to the integration of spirituality into whole-person care. As spiritual care generalists, they will gain the knowledge and skills in order for them to work collaboratively and effectively with chaplains who are the spiritual care specialists on the health care team. These courses are also intended for person serving in geographical locations where knowledge-based training is not available, those new to their health care discipline, students in training programs, community care providers, and experienced professionals wishing to expand their knowledge of specific topics.
Description: This course, Preparation for Standardized Clinical Knowledge Test for Board Certified and Credentialed Chaplains, was primarily developed to assist persons to become prepared for the required standardized testing component of the board certification and credentialing processes of the Spiritual Care Association. Learners will be provided with the learning objectives that are at the core of the standardized test questions in order to focus their learning in areas in which they desire more study. Sample questions are provided; however, they are not actual questions from the standardized test. This course is also designed to provide information and knowledge through an overview of the topics within the Quality Indicators and Scope of Practice developed in 2016 by an international, interdisciplinary panel of experts. These two documents served as the foundation of the evidence-based standardized testing of chaplain knowledge for board certification. Additional study resources will be recommended for each of the components of the documents, not only in the text of the course but in the extensive references section at the end.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the course the learner will be able to:
- Name the learning objectives used in the standardized test for board certification and chaplain credentialing.
- Define evidence-based competency in chaplaincy practice and provide examples.
- Describe each of the Quality Indicators and the knowledge required to demonstrate an understanding of each.
- Distinguish the competencies identified in the Scope of Practice and articulate methods by which to integrate them into one’s professional practice.
- Identify additional book and article resources and ways in which to locate them to increase one’s knowledge in preparation for the standardized certification exam.
This training was developed in part with the generous support of the Foundation for Spirituality and Medicine.
Description: This course, Chaplaincy Care Volunteer Training, is designed for persons who wish to volunteer their time to a chaplaincy department as a visitor to patients and families within health care settings. It is intended to support the training provided by individual departments, led by a chaplaincy supervisor. The course will provide the knowledge and skills that a volunteer needs in order to be effective as a valuable member of the chaplaincy care team including the role of a volunteer, spirituality and religion, cultural awareness, listening and communication skills, and working with those who are dying and/or grieving.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the course the learner will be able to:
- Articulate the role of chaplaincy care volunteers in a health care setting.
- Describe the components of a visit with patients and/or families.
- Summarize the differences between spirituality and religion, spiritual well-being and spiritual distress.
- Employ effective listening skills including attending, active listening, building rapport, and responding.
- Identify issues important to the provision of culturally sensitive care.
- Distinguish important skills to employ when visiting persons with physical health issues including visual and hearing impairments.
- Recognize the spiritual issues that arise in dying, death, grief, and bereavement
Number of Continuing Education Hours: 18