The Rev. George Handzo on chaplains supporting the profession

“Ask not what the Profession of Chaplaincy can do for you,
but what you can do for the Profession.”

Webster’s Dictionary defines professionalism as involving character, spirit, methods and standards. It involves observing the standing practice of a profession. This definition implies to me accountability to uphold all of these and grow in them. It implies supporting the advancement of the profession—not for one’s own benefit—but to support the good that the profession stands for.

All too often we regard our professional associations as groups, like social clubs, that owe us individual services in return for our dues. I would propose what may be a shift in how we think about our professional association. Let’s work on the idea that we fulfill our obligations to our professional associations in order to gain the privilege of being considered an official member of the profession of chaplaincy and for the privilege of being of service to this wonderful profession to which we each have the great good fortune to have been called. We are members of these associations because it gives us the privilege of serving our profession, not because membership gives the profession the opportunity to serve us.

And what does the nature of this service need to be? While it can take many forms, a vital one is advocacy. We can advocate through publication, research, and direct intervention. This activity is not only for everyone, it is a team game. That means that everyone plays, and everyone plays according to the same game plan. One of the things we need desperately in professional chaplaincy is a coordinated advocacy plan that is proactive rather than reactive and focused rather than scatter shot.

We all need to be willing to participate in research. Whether we like it or not, we live in an age when he or she who has the best numbers often wins. I was at a panel presentation before a large audience of mostly oncology doctors and nurses. The chaplain on the panel made a big pitch for including chaplains in research projects. After the presentation, the first two comments from the audience were from doctors who told of asking their chaplains to participate in research and being told that the chaplains didn’t have the time or it wasn’t part of their job. It makes no sense for us to spend time demonstrating our worth to our individual administrators and not take the time to assist our profession as a whole to demonstrate how it contributes to patient care.

The good news is that we are a profession that is increasingly recognized. We live in an age where the contribution of religion to health is increasingly recognized. Many of the doors we have knocked on and often beat our heads against for years are now open to us.

The more professional chaplains there are out there, the better prepared we are, and the more advocacy there is to support our hiring and continued placement, the more the spiritual needs of the suffering and those who care for them will be tended to.