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Chaplain - Pastoral Care, Casual, Rotating

Northwestern Medicine · McHenry, IL · Part time · Health Care Provider

Posted Sep 30, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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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

Tell me about your clinical pastoral education and the setting where you completed it.

What they are checking: Whether they have the training to provide chaplaincy in a hospital environment.

Walk me through how you support a family at the bedside when their loved one is dying.

What they are checking: Whether they can be present and helpful in end-of-life moments, a core part of this role.

How do you contribute in an interdisciplinary team meeting or palliative care rounds?

What they are checking: Whether they can share spiritual insights in a way the medical team finds useful.

What do you do to take care of yourself after difficult visits?

What they are checking: Whether they have healthy ways to handle the emotional weight of chaplaincy.

What would you do

How do you provide spiritual care to a patient whose faith tradition is different from your own?

What they are checking: Whether they can offer respectful care across many traditions without imposing their own beliefs.

A patient tells you they want to stop treatment but their family disagrees. What do you do?

What they are checking: Whether they recognize an ethical dilemma and know when to involve the ethics committee.

How do you support a nurse or doctor after a hard loss on the unit?

What they are checking: Whether they understand that staff need care too, as the posting includes hospital personnel.

This is a casual rotating role. How do you build trust with staff when you're not always on the unit?

What they are checking: Whether they can quickly connect with teams despite an irregular schedule.

How would you respond if a patient asks you to pray in a way that doesn't match your own practice?

What they are checking: Whether they put the patient's needs first while staying honest about their own role.

About the work

How do you document a spiritual care visit while protecting the patient's privacy?

What they are checking: Whether they record what helps the care team without sharing private details that shouldn't be shared.

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The full job description

As published by Northwestern Medicine.

The Chaplain reflects the mission, vision, and values of NM, adheres to the organization’s Code of Ethics and Corporate Compliance Program, and complies with all relevant policies, procedures, guidelines and all other regulatory and accreditation standards. A chaplain offers spiritual guidance and pastoral care to patients, families, and hospital staff/medical staff. As representatives of spiritual and/or religious traditions, chaplains use insights and principles of psychology religion, spirituality, and theology. RESPONSIBILITIES: • Delivers a ministry of spiritual care, counseling, consultation, worship, prayer, sacraments, and spiritual/ emotional support services to patients, families, and hospital personnel/medical staff for the optimal holistic care of patients. • Identifies and clarifies ethical dilemmas. Findings will be shared with the Ethics Committee Chairs to determine whether an ethics consult is necessary per site policy/procedure. • Participates in and provides appropriate leadership in interdisciplinary clinical team activities related to planning and coordinating patient care, including care conferences, team meetings, nursing rounds, palliative care rounds, IDT meetings, and family conferences when appropriate. • Provides end of life support, bereavement support as needed. • Provides education to patients and hospital personnel/medical staff on Advanced Directives including Power of Attorney for Healthcare and Goals of Care conversations. • Develops and leads spiritual care services within the hospital in collaboration with other members of the Spiritual Care Department. • Serves as spiritual liaisons between the hospital and community (both religious and secular) with referrals and information with patient/family permission that is compliant with HIPAA regulations. • Escalates any concerns or issues following the NM chain of command policies. • Offers religious services to hospital personnel/medical staff as appropriate and when requested. • Accepts on call for spiritual care coverage, crises and emergencies as assigned including nights, weekends, and holidays. Manager may assign required minimum on-call shifts. • Assists in leading CALM/Mindful Moments as assigned or as needed. • Attends to cultural and spiritual dynamics that may improve patient treatment and family dynamics. • Maintains chapel/sacred spaces and workspaces in a neat fashion while keeping supplies available and stocked. • Maintains board certification and/or minimum annual CEU requirements as set by certifying bodies and organization/industry standards. • Performs other duties as assigned by the Manager of Spiritual Care Minimum Requirements: Education: • Master’s degree in theology, religion, pastoral care, spiritual care, or divinity from an accredited institution or equivalent combination of education and experience • At least one (1) unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) or in process of completing one (1) unit of CPE within 90 days of hire date Preferred : • Ordination and/or in good standing within one’s faith tradition or certifying organization • Four (4) Units of CPE, Board Certification Northwestern Medicine is an equal opportunity employer (disability, VETS) and does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of age, sex, race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation or any other protected status. Background Check Northwestern Medicine conducts a background check that includes criminal history on newly hired team members and, at times, internal transfers. If you are offered a position with us, you will be required to complete an authorization and disclosure form that gives Northwestern Medicine permission to run the background check. Results are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and we follow all local, state, and federal laws, including the Illinois Health Care Worker Background Check Act. Artificial Intelligence Disclosure Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools may be used in some portions of the candidate review process for this position, however, all employment decisions will be made by a person. Benefits We offer a wide range of benefits that provide employees with tools and resources to improve their physical, emotional, and financial well-being while providing protection for unexpected life events. Click on or copy and paste URL to your browser to view detailed benefits information NorthwesternMedicine Career Page https://jobs.nm.org/benefits Please refer to the Benefits Eligibility by Employment Classification to determine benefits eligibility for job postings. If sign-on bonus is included in a job posting eligibility is as followed: Internal employees and rehires who left Northwestern Medicine within 1 year are not eligible for the sign-on bonus. Exception : New graduate internal employees seeking their first licensed clinical position as a Registered Nurse at NM may be eligible.

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