Chaplain Cheryl Palmer on an invitation to make a difference

Establishing a Cystic Fibrosis Standard of Spiritual Care

Opportunity is knocking for professional chaplains to create a national spiritual care standard of care for patients living with cystic fibrosis. The national Cystic Fibrosis office has invited us to introduce the value and importance of developing spiritual care guidelines for persons living with the disease at the November 2-5, 2006 annual conference in Denver, Colorado.

So, I am sounding the call to you, my fellow chaplains, to:

• work collaboratively to establish standards of care.
• educate the cystic fibrosis community about the value and difference professional spiritual care makes in patients' lives.
• attend national, state, regional and local cystic fibrosis meetings to promote understanding of professional chaplaincy as an integral aspect of patient care.
• communicate with leadership on your cystic fibrosis teams and your lung transplant teams about the upcoming work to establish such a standard and seek their input, advise, and support.
• share your expertise about what constitutes excellent spiritual care as we develop these standards of care.

One of the unique features of the cystic fibrosis community is their multidisciplinary approach to patient care: Cystic fibrosis standards of care demand the active participation of not only the physician, but also the nurse, the social worker, and the dietician.

When the annual cystic fibrosis conference is held, a whole host of professionals assemble on what is a very even playing field: It’s usual to see physicians, nurses, and others participating in workshops that might sound like they’re geared to the psycho-social side of patient care (like end-of-life care) and it’s usual to see social workers, psychologists, and others asking questions at the poster of a scientist who is trying to further solve the mysteries of the CF gene. It’s a terrific spirit that inspires team members to take whole person care seriously.

Noticeably missing is a disciplined and intentional approach to spiritual care. The good news is there is a real appreciation among the cystic fibrosis community about this aspect of patient care and these same professionals are inviting us as chaplains to develop spiritual care guidelines.

What can you do?

• E-mail me clp1840@bjc.org if you or a colleague works with adults living with cystic fibrosis (include those who work on lung transplant) so that we might begin networking and collaborating, perhaps by forming a special interest group.
• Join the spiritual care guidelines workgroup. We will likely link our work with the APC’s Quality Commission.
• Attend the annual cystic fibrosis meeting in November (if you’re on a cystic fibrosis team, your team may be able to fund your trip).