The Chaplain's Role in Pediatric Palliative Care

The Chaplain's Role in Pediatric Palliative Care: Mapping Model Programs - The Hastings Center: Professional chaplains are pediatric palliative care providers. They listen to, talk with, and provide a supportive presence for sick children and their families. They collaborate with physicians and nurses to care for children coping with pain or treatment side effects. Medical staff seek out chaplains for emotional support, and for advice in learning how to respond to the suffering they witness. Chaplains are highly trained as listeners, and may, through close listening, learn things about the way a child’s illness is being experienced by a family that are not obvious to other team members.