Documentation of Community Clergy Visits in an Acute Care Hospital

Hospitals function and are dependent upon good documentation. Increased sensitivity to patients' spiritual needs as an important part of the healing process has highlighted the fact that, compared to the vast amount of pastoral care that is delivered, relatively little documentation is actually made. This hospital sought to demonstrate and document pastoral care given by community clergy through the use of a sticker system. This article describes the objectives of the program, the process of instituting it in a community hospital, and the opportunities for evaluation and performance improvement.