Rev. Ian Cullen, Palliative Care Chaplain for Vanderbilt Health, was named a Spring 2026 Credo Award winner for his personalized spirtual care. (photo by Donn Jones)
The patient, weak and with severe speech difficulties after a stroke, had just learned that he had only weeks to live. The Rev. Ian Cullen, MDiv, Palliative Care Chaplain for Vanderbilt Health, would spend many hours during those weeks with him, patiently listening to his halting efforts to speak and trying to learn more about his life.
“In time, Ian discovered the patient’s long-standing love of art and drawing, which he had been unable to do for so long,” his colleague wrote in nominating Cullen for a Credo Award. “Ian sought out colored pencils and paper and went back to offer help. When he realized that the patient’s weakness made it difficult to use the pencils, he wrapped each one in a washcloth to make it easier to hold. In time, the patient was able to regain enough strength that his drawings of birds were enlivening his room.”
Cullen received a Vanderbilt Health Credo Award for Spring 2026 because of experiences like this that illustrate his dedication to patients and his colleagues, as well as his commitment to quality. For Cullen, it often comes down to small kindnesses such as bringing a patient a favorite snack or meal, or finding a way for them to enjoy the sunshine outside for the last time, perhaps for the first time in months. Cullen said the most important aspect of his job is to observe and listen to each patient, accompany them in a way that is personal, and ease them through the end of their journey.
“What I found in this work is that there’s a certain magic that every person has, and they don’t stop being who they are when medical crises happen,” said Cullen. “They can become disconnected from that. They can become disconnected from their sense of self, the sense of this higher purpose that they’re tied up into. And so, it seems to me like what I found in chaplaincy is the opportunity to be present and mindful about what that goodness is in people.”
Cullen has been part of the community since 2012, when he came to the Vanderbilt Divinity School exploring a career. He soon felt that working at a church was not his calling, but he wasn’t sure what was. “I didn’t know what a chaplain was when I came to Nashville,” he said.
Then, as he was working on his Master of Divinity degree a year later, he had an internship at Vanderbilt Health. “Within the first few weeks, I kind of came to realize how meaningful it is to be present to people, and it fit with what I thought a caring profession would be,” he said. He then completed multiple chaplaincy internships, including at the Veterans Affairs Hospital, and a residency at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
He became a staff chaplain for Vanderbilt Health in 2017 and has worked with the Palliative Care team since 2018. Cullen worked through the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in 2020, as his team worked to develop innovative ways to keep family members connected during many hours of death. There were many deaths, and initially, as in virtually all health care facilities, family members couldn’t be there in person. But he and his team found a way.
For four years, he and his team developed a virtual memorial service to honor the patients who had died in the previous year, sharing rich stories and memories that families offered to share.
The experience changed him.
“Here in palliative care, I think we’ve grown a certain friendship with death and dying,” he said. “There’s a certain way that we recognize that this is a journey everyone goes on, and when we’ve come to accept that it’s something that we all face, I think that allows other people to feel more comfortable with it. It pulls back the mystery and the veil and the secrecy that happens with death and dying. And so, I feel much more able to be present.”
View Ian Cullen’s Credo Award Video.
If you are a VUMC employee, you can nominate a colleague for a Credo Award, C. Wright Pinson Leader Award, or Vanderbilt Health Team Award. Visit the Leadership Forum website to fill out a nomination form. Employees demonstrate credo behaviors when: They make those they serve the highest priority; respect privacy and confidentiality; communicate effectively; conduct themselves professionally; have a sense of ownership; and are committed to their colleagues. Elevate award nominations are accepted year-round. If a nomination is received after the cutoff for an award selection period, the nomination will be considered for the next period. VUMC VOICE will post stories on each of the award winners in the weeks following their announcement.
