NCBAC: It's a privilege to talk with you today. My first question is simply, how did you start in this work as a hospice chaplain?

Rebecca Delzell: It was 2008, the economy had crashed and as the primary breadwinner I was applying to any and every job. I applied at a hospital and did not get the job that I wanted but the woman in HR said that there were hospice positions available. So I applied for them, but I was ‘mad’ with God and said to myself, “Really? Hospice with the dying and part time!?!” How was this going to work?” It was purely accidental but now I tell people that we may enter this field accidentally, but we do not stay by accident we stay by choice. Everyone who stays has a passion for this work and they want to stay in the field. We help people die peacefully so no one stays in this work because they must, in my experience, they stay because it is a calling!

NCBAC: How long did it take for you to realize you had a true and lasting passion for this work?

Rebecca: I realized soon after that I was not just cookie cutting my visits with my dying patients. They are all unique. And, every disease is unique, and every patient is as well. Each one of them is an individual with a unique family dynamic and the dying process is all unique. I realized I needed to learn more in depth exactly what I was doing.

NCBAC: So, when you say you were trying to understand the new things you encountered about your work, where was the first place that you went for help, advice, insight etc. - all those things?

Rebecca: I depended on my nurses and social workers who had done the work for a long time, but CNA’s were always incredibly helpful. So, in terms of gaining the most information from my team, the CNA’s know the most about the patient because they are doing the most intimate work, so, I learned quickly to go to my CNA’s.

NCBAC: Did that ever change for you?

Rebecca: No, they are still the ones who know the intimate details - the losses that I’ve not been told about for example - the reasons that individuals are experiencing spiritual pain. It might mean that a CNA can tell me, “Did you know that they were sexually molested? Or, did you know that they had a child die in infancy?” Things like that they knew to tell me so that I could better address our patients’ spiritual pain.

NCBAC: I am intrigued that out of all the people on your team, you realized quickly that the CNA’s were the ones with the broadest/deepest experience with the patients. And, that you depended on them most of all to help you in your work.

Rebecca: Yes, it is true. They are social workers and chaplains. In many ways they are nurses too. They are 100% undervalued in my opinion. They are assessing wounds and judging the patients’ skin integrity for example. They assess their patient’s mentality more than anyone on the team.

NCBAC: Considering all that we are saying here today, what do you think the gift is that you bring to this work?

Rebecca: I am a team player. So, if I see someone in what appears to be spiritual pain, I cannot be comfortable addressing a patient’s spiritual needs alone. Now, I always seek out the CNA’s and nurses when this occurs even though I am pretty sure it’s emotional pain. The ones who see the patients the most - two to three times a week are the CNA’s more than anyone else on the team! That’s why they know so much and gain so much trust.

So, I am constantly in touch with all of them. As a board-certified chaplain, I’m required to do 50 hours of continuing education annually. I attend mostly conferences on death and dying and workshops that deal specifically with hospice.

NCBAC: Can I assume, even though I know you to be extremely dedicated to your work that unless there was a mandate to do continuous learning that it was something you might not have done so consistently unless it was a requirement of your certifying body?

Rebecca: Yes, and one of the key reasons that I decided to work with the National Certification Board for Alzheimer & Aging Care is NCBAC’s certification policy. It is the fact that attracted me because recertification means you must stay very involved in your work and continue to seek out training that makes staying current in your field mandatory.