clergy
Meaning of clergy: Ordained religious leaders, and in hospitals a formal part of the care team rather than visitors from outside it.
Definition of clergy
Clergy are people formally ordained to lead worship and provide spiritual care within a religious tradition, such as priests, ministers, rabbis and imams. In healthcare they appear as chaplains, employed by or attached to a hospital, hospice or care home. The role covers people of any faith and of none, and it is separate from the medical and nursing teams.
What does the role involve in a hospital?
Hospital chaplaincy is broader than conducting religious rites, though it includes them. The work covers listening at a point when a diagnosis has just been given, sitting with families during long waits, helping people find words for fear or regret, supporting relatives after a death, and arranging rituals that matter at the end of life. Chaplains also support staff, who carry accumulated exposure to death and distress. Much of the day is spent with people who claim no religion at all, since the underlying need is for meaning and company rather than doctrine.
How does it fit with the rest of the care team?
| Role | Focus |
|---|---|
| Medical and nursing staff | Diagnosis, treatment and physical care |
| Chaplain or clergy | Spiritual, religious and existential concerns |
| Social worker | Practical, financial and family arrangements |
| Psychological services | Assessment and treatment of mental illness |
Why does spiritual care appear in medical settings?
Serious illness raises questions that clinical treatment does not address: what the illness means, whether life has been well spent, what happens next, how a family will manage. These concerns influence how people cope, what treatment they are willing to accept, and how they experience dying. Palliative care in particular treats spiritual distress as one of several sources of suffering alongside pain, breathlessness and anxiety, on the basis that unattended distress of that kind is felt physically. Accreditation standards for hospitals commonly require access to spiritual care, and requests are recorded in the notes like any other referral. Chaplains are generally trained in clinical settings as well as ordained, and they work under the same duties of confidentiality as other members of the team. Not every hospital chaplain is ordained clergy. Many services employ lay spiritual care staff and volunteers drawn from several traditions, so that a request for someone of a particular faith can be met without delay, and so that people who want company rather than a religious rite are not turned away.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The family asked that clergy be contacted before the withdrawal of life support.
Good to know
Hospital chaplaincy is offered to people of every faith and of none, and spiritual distress is treated as a recognized source of suffering rather than as a religious matter alone.