We’ve recommended a set of top resources on the nature of chaplaincy today. These articles and other resources represent some of the very best research and practice being done today. Our list is not intended to be comprehensive, and the selection represents the perspectives of the editorial team. These resources will be updated as new articles become available, and we welcome your feedback and suggestions.

Chaplains Today

Chaplain Education / CPE

Fitchett G, Tartaglia A, Massey K, Jackson-Jordan B, Derrickson PE (2015). “Education for Professional Chaplains: Should Certification Competencies Shape Curriculum?” Journal of Health Care Chaplaincies 21, 151-64.

Jankowski KRB, Vanderwerker LC, Murphy KM, Montonye M, Ross AM (2008). “Change in Pastoral Skills, Emotional Intelligence, Self-Reflection, and Social Desirability across a Unit of CPE.” Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy 15, 132-48.

Tartaglia A, Dodd-McCue D (2010). “Enhancing Objectivity in Pastoral Education: Use of Standarized Patients in Video Simulation.” Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling 64, 1-10.

Trothen T (2000). “Students’ Perspectives: A Canadian Study of Supervised Pastoral Education.” Journal of Pastoral Care 54, 325-37.

VandeCreek L, Hover M, Gleason JJ (2001). “Quantitative Outcome of Clinical Pastoral Education: A Review of the Literature.” Journal of Supervision and Training in Ministry 21, 132-47.

Chaplain Well-Being / Burnout

Galek K, Flannelly KJ, Green PB, Kudler T (2011). “Burnout, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Social Support.” Pastoral Psychology 60, 633-649.

Spidell S, Wallace A, Carmack CL, Nogeuras-Gonzalez GM, Parker CL, Cantor SB (2011). “Grief in Healthcare Chaplains: An Investigation of the Presence of Disenfranchised Grief.” Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy 17, 75-86.

Taylor BE, Flannelly KJ, Weaver AJ, Zucker DJ (2006). “Compassion Fatigue and Burnout among Rabbis Working as Chaplains.” Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling 60, 35-42.

Yan GW, Beder J (2013). “Professional Quality of Life and Associated Factors among VHA Chaplains.” Military Medicine 6, 638-45.

Documentation and Charting

Goldstein HR, Marin D, Umpierre M (2011). “Chaplains and Access to Medical Records.” Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy 17, 162-168.

Johnson R, Wirpsa MJ, Boyken L, Sakumoto M, Handzo G, Kho A, Emanuel L (2016). “Communicating Chaplains’ Care: Narrative Documentation in a Neuroscience-Spine Intensive Care Unit.” Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy 22, 133-150.

Lee BM, Curlin FA, Choi PJ (2016). “Documenting Presence: A Descriptive Study of Chaplain Notes in the Intensive Care Unit.” Palliative and Supportive Care 20, 1-17.

Stang VB (2017). “An e-Chart Review of Chaplains’ Interventions and Outcomes: A Quality Improvement and Documentation Practice Enhancement Project.” Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling 71, 183-91.

Tartaglia A, Dodd-McCue D, Ford T, Demm C, Hassell A (2016). “Chaplain Documentation and the Electronic Medical Record: A Survey of ACPE Residency Programs.” Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy 22, 41-53.

Screening and Assessment

Delgado-Guay MO, Chisholm G, Williams J, Frisbee-Hume S, Ferguson AO, Bruera E (2016). “Frequency, Intensity, and Correlates of Spiritual Pain in Advanced Cancer Patients Assessed in a Supportive / Palliative Care Clinic.” Palliative & Supportive Care 14, 341-8.

Kestenbaum A, Shields M, James J, Hocker W, Morgan S, Karve S, Rabow MW, Dunn LB (2017). “What Impact Do Chaplains Have? A Pilot Study of Spiritual AIM for Advanced Cancer Patients in Outpatient Palliative Care.” Journal of Pain & Symptom Management 54, 707-14.

King SDW, Fitchett G, Murphy PE, Pargament KI, Harrison DA, Loggers ET (2017). “Determining Best Methods to Screen for Religious / Spiritual Distress.” Supportive Care in Cancer 25, 471-9.

Monod S, Martin E, Spencer B, Rochat E, Büla C (2012). “Validation of the Spiritual Distress Assessment Tool in Older Hospitalized Patients.” BMC Geriatrics 12, 13.

Monod SM, Rochat E, Büla CJ, Jobin G, Martin E, Spencer B (2010). “The Spiritual Distress Assessment Tool: An Instrument to Assess Spiritual Distress in Hospitalized Elderly Persons.” BMC Geriatrics 10, 88.

What Chaplains Do

Choi PJ, Curlin FA, Cox CE (2015). “‘The Patient Is Dying, Please Call the Chaplain’: The Activities of Chaplains in One Medical Center’s Intensive Care Units.” Journal of Pain & Symptom Management 50, 501-6.

Cooper RS (2011). “Case Study of a Chaplain’s Spiritual Care for a Patient with Advanced Metastatic Breast Cancer.” Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy 17, 19-37.

Handzo GF, Flannelly KJ, Kudler T, Fogg SL, Harding SR, Hasan YH, Ross AM, Taylor BE (2008). “What Do Chaplains Really Do? II. Interventions in the New York Chaplaincy Study.” Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy 14, 39-56.

Jeuland J, Fitchett G, Schulman-Green D, Kapo J (2017). “Chaplains Working in Palliative Care: Who They Are and What They Do.” Journal of Palliative Medicine 20, 502-8.

Massey K, Barnes MJ, Villines D, Goldstein JD, Pierson AL, Scherer C, Vander Laan B, Summerfelt WT (2015). “‘What do I do?’ Developing a Taxonomy of Chaplaincy Activities and Interventions for Spiritual Care in Intensive Care Unit Palliative Care.” BMC Palliative Care 14, 10.