Pastoral Care Practitioner - Administrative Service Officer 5

Employment Type – Permanent, Part Time Position

Classification – Administrative Service Officer 5

Title- Pastoral Care Practitioner - Administrative Service Officer 5

Position Number: LP6796

Salary – $89,114 - $94,120 (Plus Super) pro rata

Location – North Canberra Hospital Bruce, ACT

Section – Pastoral Care

Closing Date – 16th April 2024

What can we offer you:  ● City living without the traffic – click her to see why you should live in Canberra.

● Competitive pay rates and excellent working conditions. 

● Salary Packaging with many options that provide full fringe benefits tax concessions.

● Flexible working conditions. 

● 11.5% Superannuation. 

About the Hospital:

North Canberra Hospital (formerly Calvary Public Hospital Bruce) and Clare Holland House are now run and operated by Canberra Health Services (CHS)

This is a significant milestone as the ACT Government moves towards delivering a new billion-dollar hospital on Canberra’s Northside.

The current North Canberra Hospital is a level 4 hospital that provides a range of acute and sub-acute services including community based care to the residents of the northside of Canberra and Southern NSW.   North Canberra Hospital (NCH) is a 270 public hospital located in Canberra’s expanding northside. North Canberra Hospital operates a 24 hour Emergency Department. Inpatient services include general medicine, surgery, maternity, mental health and critical care.

Other service modalities include day surgery, specialist outpatient clinics, Hospital in the Home and the Geriatric Rapid Acute Care Evaluation service that reaches into aged care facilities across the ACT.

The new Northside Hospital will be built on the existing Calvary Hospital campus in Bruce. It will be a modern, state-of-the-art hospital for patients, visitors and its workforce and will provide more beds and increased services. Until then, it's business as usual at the NCH, and we'll keep providing high-quality care to our patients and community.

 About the role:

As a Pastoral Care Practitioner you will work as part of the multidisciplinary care team to address the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of patients, their loved ones and staff at North Canberra Hospital (NCH). At NCH we understand that healthcare works best when we create a person-centred partnership that delivers holistic care for the body, mind and spirit. Pastoral care seeks to address the spiritual domain of health, with particular response to the unique human vulnerabilities associated with healthcare including fear, loneliness, pain, grief, and joy. Standard hours of work are 8am-3:51pm and this role may include an overnight on-call service, weekend and public holiday work.

Under limited direction of the Director of Pastoral Care, you will:

• Provide Pastoral Care that identifies and responds to a person’s emotional and spiritual wellbeing by undertaking spiritual assessments, creating spiritual care plans, providing spiritual interventions and identifying and reporting on health outcomes.  

• Assist people to access their own spiritual resources, find meaning in their particular experience, and promote spiritual and emotional wellbeing as central to the planning and provision of health care.

• Provide Pastoral Care in a variety of clinical settings including critical care, medical emergencies, palliative care, death and bereavement, either in response to referrals from other health care workers or via ward-based visitation.  Prioritise caseload, manage competing priorities and refer people with needs outside scope of practice to other spiritual, health care or community practitioners.  

• Work as part of the Pastoral Care team, including supporting and managing volunteers, students and faith representatives.

• Support, develop, and facilitate private and public spiritual practices, including rituals such as prayer, memorial services and viewings of deceased bodies. 

• Review and develop your pastoral identity and practice, particularly through self-reflection, self-care and via external clinical supervision.

• Undertake other duties appropriate to this level of classification which contribute to the operation of the organisation.

About you:

CHS is committed to workforce diversity and to creating an inclusive workplace. As part of this commitment, we welcome applications from all diversity groups. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability and people who identify as LGBTQIA+ are particularly encouraged to apply.

Requirements/Qualifications:

• Hold a tertiary qualification (or progression towards a qualification) in Pastoral Care, pastoral counselling, theology, chaplaincy, clinical pastoral education, psychology, social sciences (or another related area to the delivery of Pastoral Care) from an accredited education provider. Experience in clinical Pastoral Care is highly desirable.

• Have an understanding of how the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) indicators align with this role.

• Fulfil the responsibilities of this role in alignment to the CHS Exceptional Care Framework, Clinical Governance Framework, Partnering With Consumers Framework and all other related frameworks.

Please note prior to commencement successful candidates will be required to:

• Prior to commencing this role, a current registration issued under the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act 2011 is required.

• Undergo a pre-employment National Police Check.

• Comply with Canberra Health Services Occupational Assessment, Screening and Vaccination policy.

How to apply:

Applications must be submitted through the e-recruitment system;

• Applications must include a copy of a current CV and details for at least 2 professional referees

• A pitch outlining your skills, knowledge, and experience and why you should be considered for this role. You should take into consideration the selection criteria (below) when drafting your response. 

• Where possible include specific relevant examples of your work.

To be eligible for permanent employment within the ACT Public Service you must be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident”

What you require:

These are the key selection criteria for how you will be assessed in conjunction with your CV and experience.  

• Understanding of the role and practice of Pastoral Care in an acute health setting.

• Demonstrated competence in providing person-centred Pastoral Care to people from diverse faith, cultural and social backgrounds who are experiencing ill health, bereavement or other challenging life events.  

• Well-developed pastoral identity (beliefs/values/worldview/characteristics that define you as a Pastoral Carer) that informs your pastoral practice.

• Demonstrates understanding of, and adherence to, safety and quality standards, work, health and safety (WH&S) and the positive patient experience. Displays behaviour consistent with CHS’s values of reliable, progressive, respectful and kind.

If you would like further information regarding this opportunity, please contact Marion Luke,   ***********@act.gov.au 

A merit pool will be established from this recruitment process and will be used for the next 12 months to fill various positions both on a temporary and permanent basis with full-time and part-time opportunities available.  

·         #LI-DNI