Subscribe to CRN blog updates
Choose the audiences you want to hear from. Select All for every audience, or select one or more individual audiences.
(c) 2026 Marsh Institute for Chaplains. Chaplain Resource Network is an initiative of the Marsh Institute for Chaplains. All rights reserved.
BLOG-012 | Healthcare Chaplaincy: Listening at the Bedside
bedside-listening
communication-skills
field-guide
healthcare
ministry-of-presence
partners
practitioner
spiritual-care
Jul 29, 2026
Continue Reading...
A practical field guide for chaplains who want to hear the person before trying to help.
A hospital room can tempt a chaplain to move too quickly. The monitor sounds. A family member watches the door. A nurse has only a moment to explain why spiritual care was requested. The chaplain enters carryin...
Categories
All Categories active-listening addiction-recovery agency-leader aging aging-parents agricultural-chaplaincy airport-chaplaincy athlete-care bedside-listening being-with bereavement boundaries campus-chaplaincy campus-crisis care-seekers careful-observation caregiver-support chaplain-director chaplain-formation chaplain-rounds chaplain-supervision chaplain-support chaplaincy-training charting cold-visit communication-skills community-care community-chaplaincy compassion-fatigue confidentiality conflict consent consistent-presence construction-chaplaincy continuity-of-care corporate corporate-chaplaincy correctional-chaplaincy corrections corrections-chaplaincy covenant covenant-service cpe credibility crisis-response crisis-support de-escalation death-notification deep-listening dementia deployment deployment-cycle disaster-response documentation donors driver-care education education-chaplaincy ems ems-chaplaincy end-of-life endorsement-pathway facts-and-assumptions family-care family-readiness family-support federation field-guide field-readiness fire-service fire-service-chaplaincy formation grief grief-and-loss healthcare healthcare-chaplaincy homeless-care hospice hospice-chaplaincy hospital-chaplaincy how-to icu incarceration interfaith-care law-enforcement lay layoffs learners lightbearer line-of-duty-death long-term-investment manufacturing-chaplaincy maritime-chaplaincy measurement mentorship military military-chaplaincy military-family mining-chaplaincy ministry-of-presence moral-injury mutual-service mutual-support neighbor-care new-chaplain non-anxious-presence non-religious oilfield-chaplaincy onboarding partners partnership partnership-review pediatric post-visit-review practice-based-learning practitioner pregnancy-loss presence press-release privacy psychological-first-aid public-safety public-safety-chaplaincy railroad-chaplaincy rapid-deployment reentry refer-not-treat referral-path reflective-practice reintegration research-brief resilience resource-network ride-along role-clarity rural-care sabbath-rest safety-protocols school-chaplaincy scope-of-role seafarer-care secular security-clearance self-care self-supervision senior-living shame shared-capacity shared-standards shift-coverage shift-handoff silence spiritual-assessment spiritual-care sports-chaplaincy staff-care stewardship street-chaplaincy suicide-loss supervision supervisor surgery sustainable-practice the-field transference traveler-care trucking-chaplaincy trust-building utility-chaplaincy verbatim veterans-chaplaincy volunteer volunteer-chaplain what-to-expect worker-care working-chaplains workplace workplace-chaplaincy