National Consensus Project's Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care, Fourth Edition: Why is This Important to Chaplains?

The Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care, fourth edition were recently published. Through the involvement of the Association of Professional Chaplains and the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network, this is the first time that any chaplains have been an official party to the development of these guidelines. The expectation set by the guidelines is that all health care professionals (including all chaplains) caring for people living with serious illness at any stage of illness, at any age, and in any setting will integrate core palliative care principles and best practices into their routine care and have sufficient training to complete an assessment of the patient and address common sources of suffering. The article presents a summary of the content of the guidelines and their implications for clinical practice and training with emphasis on the practice and training of professional chaplains.