ACC Spiritual Care & Counseling 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A chaplain is asked by a supervisor to share confidential information disclosed by a patient during a spiritual care visit. The chaplain should:
- Share the information if the supervisor has clinical authority
- Decline to disclose unless there is an imminent safety concern or the patient consents (Correct answer)
- Document the request and notify the ethics committee
- Share only non-spiritual information from the conversation
Correct answer: Decline to disclose unless there is an imminent safety concern or the patient consents
Chaplain-patient communications are confidential except in cases of imminent safety risk or explicit patient consent.
Question 2: An interfaith chaplain serving a military unit includes members of many faiths and none. The chaplain's ethical obligation is to:
- Provide care primarily to members of the chaplain's own endorsing faith group
- Ensure all personnel receive spiritual care consistent with their own beliefs or absence of belief (Correct answer)
- Refer secular personnel to mental health services rather than chaplaincy
- Prioritize personnel with active religious beliefs as they have more acute spiritual needs
Correct answer: Ensure all personnel receive spiritual care consistent with their own beliefs or absence of belief
Military and institutional chaplains are ethically bound to serve all personnel regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof.
Question 3: When a chaplain recognizes that a spiritual care encounter is moving beyond their competency level, the MOST appropriate action is:
- Continue care while consulting reference materials after the visit
- Terminate the visit and document the interaction
- Acknowledge limits and facilitate a referral to an appropriate resource (Correct answer)
- Seek supervision before discontinuing care with the individual
Correct answer: Acknowledge limits and facilitate a referral to an appropriate resource
Recognizing limits and facilitating appropriate referrals is a core ethical responsibility in chaplaincy practice.
Question 4: A chaplain in a correctional facility notices that an incarcerated person is using spiritual conversations to manipulate access to privileges. The chaplain should:
- Terminate all spiritual care contact with the individual immediately
- Report the behavior to correctional officers and cease chaplaincy contact
- Maintain professional boundaries while continuing to offer authentic spiritual care (Correct answer)
- Confront the individual directly and challenge their spiritual sincerity
Correct answer: Maintain professional boundaries while continuing to offer authentic spiritual care
Chaplains maintain professional boundaries without abandoning care, recognizing that manipulation does not negate genuine spiritual need.
Question 5: A patient asks a chaplain to pray in a manner inconsistent with the chaplain's own religious convictions but consistent with the patient's faith. The chaplain should:
- Pray in their own tradition and explain it is the best they can offer
- Decline and arrange for a clergy member of the patient's tradition
- Facilitate prayer in a way that honors the patient's tradition, or arrange for appropriate coverage (Correct answer)
- Offer a non-denominational prayer as a compromise
Correct answer: Facilitate prayer in a way that honors the patient's tradition, or arrange for appropriate coverage
Chaplains are called to support the faith of those they serve, facilitating care even when it requires coordinating with others.
Question 6: Dual relationships in chaplaincy become ethically problematic when they:
- Involve a chaplain serving someone they knew before the chaplaincy role
- Create a risk of exploitation, bias, or harm to the person receiving care (Correct answer)
- Require the chaplain to take on both spiritual and administrative roles
- Involve a chaplain serving individuals from their own faith tradition
Correct answer: Create a risk of exploitation, bias, or harm to the person receiving care
Dual relationships are ethically problematic when they create potential for exploitation, impaired judgment, or harm.
Question 7: Self-care is considered an ethical obligation for chaplains primarily because:
- Professional bodies require documentation of wellness activities
- A chaplain's personal health has no effect on the care they provide
- Compassion fatigue and secondary trauma impair a chaplain's ability to provide effective care (Correct answer)
- Spiritual caregivers are held to higher standards of personal wellbeing than other professionals
Correct answer: Compassion fatigue and secondary trauma impair a chaplain's ability to provide effective care
Compassion fatigue and secondary trauma directly diminish a chaplain's capacity to provide quality spiritual care, making self-care an ethical duty.
ACC Spiritual Care & Counseling 3
A chaplain is asked by a supervisor to share confidential information disclosed by a patient during a spiritual care visit.
The chaplain should: