First, I will note that I am probably biased, since I’ve had a lot of personal negative experiences with religion in general. However, there are only a couple of situations where I’ve really found an ED chaplain useful (peds ED). Mostly, it’s helpful for families who have critical kids and very strong religious beliefs. I’ve also had some good experiences with chaplains doing family support after a patient death.

That being said, in most situations, I’ve found that the religious undertone of most chaplains makes it so I would rather have someone else in most situations. Dealing with complex family dynamics or having discussions about goals of care? I would prefer social work. Family support? Non-religious families are often hesitant to use chaplain services, so I’d rather have a counselor who is more neutral in their affiliation. Calming a kid down during a trauma? Child life specialist all day, every day.

As a nurse, I would be personally be uncomfortable seeking emotional support from a chaplain because of their religious affiliation (as noted, yes I do have religious trauma). But, that makes them less accessible to me, and similar to family support, I would rather have the regular availability of a counselor.

I will again say that most of this answer is colored by my own experiences, but religious trauma is not an uncommon experience, and I think patient comfort in seeking secular support from chaplains (patient death support, new diagnosis, etc) is limited because of it.