Chaplain - Pastoral Care, Part-time, Evenings
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 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.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by Northwestern Medicine.