Spiritual Care practitioners at The Royal Children's Hospital provide respectful spiritual care and emotional support to patients, families and staff.   Our spiritual care practitioners provide a free service and are available to you regardless of your culture, faith and spiritual belief, including if you have no faith.  We listen with respect to your stories, are sensitive to the vulnerability of each person and seek to assist you to access your own inner resources of hope, courage, faith, trust and love.

Our Spiritual Carer's provide, on request, a range of services such as;

• 24 hour confidential care and support (including After-hours On-Call support
  
  
• create a safe, trusting environment that enables you and your family to share your experiences and assist you to find and establish your own personal sense of meaning
  
  
• rituals such as baptism, communion, blessings, anointing, naming ceremonies
  
  
• farewell rituals for the dying
  
  
• facilitate the visit of a faith community representative, minister, priest, rabbi, Imam, or other faith community leader
  
  
• advocate on your behalf for your ethical, spiritual, cultural and religious needs and concerns
  
  
• assist you and your family to adjust and cope with being in hospital, illness, diagnosis, injury and/or disability
  
  
• memorial services - RCH holds an annual Memorial Service to honour patients who have died and their families
  
  
• advocate on your behalf for your ethical, spiritual, cultural and religious needs and concerns
  
  
• bereavement support
  
  
• grief counselling
  
  
• offer a supportive presence
  
  
• prayer
  
  

A range of services are available to staff and/or groups of staff upon request, contact the Coordinator Spiritual Care for details (Ext 51839)

Feel free to discuss any spiritual needs that you may have with any of our Spiritual Care staff.  We will endeavour to assist you in meeting that need or facilitate others to support you as required.