SPIRITUAL CARE SERVICES: The introduction of the Spiritual Care Services within the healthcare setting in all Nigeria will be a landmark moment for healthcare chaplaincy. Spiritual well being is not only of relevance to patients who belong to a faith community but is an integral part of healthcare services provided in our hospitals which prize itself on the provision of person centered care. Attending to the inner realm of how a person thinks, feels and reacts to their health event is at the heart of healthcare chaplaincy service. Patients, hospital staff and relatives accessing healthcare in Africa need the support of a wide range of people to provide physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual care.

 SPIRITUAL CARE VOLUNTEER: Being a volunteer in our modern busy hospital environments can be a daunting prospect and having the right preparation should ensure that you, the Spiritual Care Volunteer, bring real comfort and support to patients at a distressing and sometimes uncertain time. It should also hopefully avoid some of the many pitfalls that this type of role presents, particularly in maintaining appropriate boundaries and knowing when to refer on to others. Volunteering can be a hugely rewarding experience, knowing that your intervention has helped someone even if this is just a small way. These volunteers are supported by professionals with advanced training in spiritual care, to whom they can refer those with special needs. The volunteers are trained particularly in staying with the experience of the person with whom they are working, to offer understanding, acceptance and support in what can be a very significant and personal search for meaning and hope.

SPIRITUAL CARE ASSISTANT: This is another cadre of spiritual care professionals that provide efficient spiritual care services assistance to the specialists. They help them handle some spiritual issues that do not the attention of the specialists and their services in the department of spiritual care reduce the backlog of the spiritual care specialists. The assistants are also trained to stay with the experienced person in the service. The Spiritual Care Assistants are trained to provide spiritual care services in the community health centers.

SPIRITUAL CARE SPECIALISTS: This specialist cadre of care givers belongs to the spiritual care providers that have received the required education both in pre clinical and clinical studies and have been certified by a qualified professional association to provide spiritual care services in the health and human welfare facilities. They occupied the position of staff chaplains and spiritual care providers. They belong to career staff cadre and their services are very important to their patients and the hospital at large.

OVERVIEW OF THE TRAINING: It is essential that all individuals involved in providing this care have the knowledge and skills necessary so that people receive safe, high quality, compassionate care at all times. This program of training is geared for spiritual care providers including volunteers, assistants and specialists in healthcare settings. They will often respond to the spiritual needs of people whose health has deteriorated suddenly, or who are facing chronic illness or the approach of their death. They will also often be with the families and carers of those undergoing such experiences, and who are also facing new issues and questions, and the grief that can accompany them. This course provides the basis and continuity for understanding spiritual care within the context of a multi faith and multi cultural setting. It identifies issues of entering the private world of patient care as it is carried out almost entirely within a much more public arena of the hospital ward. Issues come to life through group discussion, use of case studies, patient stories and the exchange of insight and personal reflection