Chaplain - Palliative Care and Hospice
Posted Aug 27, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
How do you support a patient whose faith tradition is different from yours, or who has no faith at all?
What they are checking: Providing respectful, patient-centered care across beliefs, which the posting emphasizes.
How do you work as part of the interdisciplinary hospice team?
What they are checking: Collaborating with nurses, social workers and physicians, which is central to hospice care.
Tell me about a time you supported staff after a difficult death.
What they are checking: Providing debriefings and support for staff, which the posting lists as part of the role.
How do you take care of yourself in a role full of loss?
What they are checking: Healthy self-care practices that sustain them over time in hospice work.
What training and certification do you bring for this work?
What they are checking: Background in clinical pastoral education and chaplaincy, which shapes how they practice.
What would you do
A family is in conflict about stopping treatment. How would you help?
What they are checking: Guiding hard conversations with compassion while supporting the care team and the patient's wishes.
A patient asks you to arrange a sacrament or ritual from their tradition. How do you handle it?
What they are checking: Connecting patients with the right faith resources and pastoral care, as the posting describes.
About the work
Walk me through how you do a spiritual assessment with a hospice patient you're meeting for the first time.
What they are checking: Using a structured approach to understand a patient's beliefs, fears and sources of meaning.
How do you document spiritual care in the medical record?
What they are checking: Clear, appropriate documentation that helps the team without oversharing private matters.
What role do you see for a chaplain in program development and quality improvement?
What they are checking: Thinking beyond individual visits to improving spiritual care across the program.
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As published by SSM Health.