Jobs › Northwestern Medicine

Chaplain - Pastoral Care, Part-time, Evenings

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

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

Apply at Northwestern Medicine

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 own faith tradition and how you approach providing spiritual care to patients who do not share it.

What they are checking: Whether they can serve people of any tradition or none without pushing their own beliefs on vulnerable patients.

Describe a time you identified an ethical dilemma in patient care. How did you clarify it, and who did you bring in?

What they are checking: Whether they recognize real ethical conflicts and know to route them to the Ethics Committee chairs per policy.

Tell me about supporting a nurse or doctor after a hard death or a code. What did you notice, and what did you offer?

What they are checking: Whether they see hospital staff as part of their ministry and can approach busy clinicians without being intrusive.

How do you take care of yourself after an evening with several deaths or crises?

What they are checking: Whether they have real habits that prevent burnout in a role that absorbs a lot of grief.

What would you do

You are paged in the evening to a family whose loved one just died unexpectedly. Walk me through how you enter that room and what you do.

What they are checking: Whether they can be present in acute grief without rushing to fix, explain or fill silence.

How do you contribute in a palliative care round or family conference when doctors and nurses are leading the discussion?

What they are checking: Whether they can add the spiritual and emotional view to an interdisciplinary team without overstepping their role.

A patient asks you to pray with them in a way that does not fit your tradition. How do you respond?

What they are checking: Whether they can meet the patient's need with integrity, or know when to refer to someone from that tradition.

A family member is angry at God and at the hospital staff and directs it at you. What do you do?

What they are checking: Whether they can stay steady with anger and let it be expressed without becoming defensive or preachy.

As a part-time evening chaplain, you may be the only one on site. How do you decide which requests to see first?

What they are checking: Whether they can triage deaths, end-of-life requests and routine visits when they cannot be everywhere at once.

About the work

How do you explain advance directives to a patient or family who has never heard of them?

What they are checking: Whether they can teach a legal and medical topic clearly and gently, which this posting lists as a duty.

What does your clinical pastoral education training look like, and how many units have you completed?

What they are checking: Whether their formal chaplaincy training matches the expectations for a hospital-based role.

How do you document a spiritual care visit in the medical record so it is useful to the care team but respects privacy?

What they are checking: Whether they understand charting for a clinical audience and what details belong in the record.

Practice this interview out loud.

Offer builds a real interview for this exact role at Northwestern Medicine from your resume and this job description, asks the questions one at a time, and tells you what landed. The first one is free.

Practice this out loud

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.

Apply at Northwestern Medicine