Spiritual Care
Spiritual care is available to all patients and their families, regardless of religious affiliation or practice. Clinical chaplains represent a variety of faith traditions and are trained to respect and support the spirituality of each patient and family member. The director of spiritual care is board certified in clinical chaplaincy and ensures that supportive services are offered with compassion and professionalism.
Patients may look to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton’s (RWJUH Hamilton) spiritual care team members as skilled companions who can help:
- Ensure religious needs are met
- Provide emotional support in times of crisis
- Encourage life reflection and story telling
- Explore spiritual concerns
- Discover sources of hope
- Recover a sense of worth and dignity
- Mediate religious or moral differences
- Reconnect patients with valued friends and family
- Listen reverently
- Address strong feelings including anger, fear, sorrow, or remorse
- Make sense out of life's changes
- Strengthen life with prayer and meditation
- Process grief and loss
- Provide a safe space for doubt
- Consult on ethical dilemmas
- Reconcile feelings of guilt and regret
- Maintain contact with a faith community or clergy
For our Catholic patients, the sacrament of the anointing of the sick is administered by a priest as requested. Communion is provided by extraordinary ministers representing various local parishes several times weekly. Referrals for this sacramental care can be made through your nurse.
Multi-Faith Chapel
Our Multi-Faith Chapel is located on the first floor of the Outpatient Services Building and is available for use by the hospital community. It is a place for prayer, meditation, and occasional religious services. Devotional materials, such as icons, prayer rugs, crosses, rosary beads and sacred scriptures are available for use in the chapel.
An Islamic prayer service is held in the chapel each Friday at 2 p.m. Other holy day services are scheduled year-round.
Clinical Pastoral Education
Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) courses are offered several times a year. To learn about RWJUH Hamilton's Clinical Pastoral Education program, click here.
Contact Us If you need spiritual or emotional support from a chaplain, please don't hesitate to ask a nurse or call the spiritual care office at 609-631-6980.
