Medical Social Worker – Hospital

Job Description

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provides direct clinical social work service, counseling, discharge planning, and case management services to hospital patients and their families including assessment and documentation of emotional, social, financial, environmental or follow-up referral needs.
• Works collaboratively with the interdisciplinary healthcare team.
• Formulates a psychosocial plan of care related to assessment of patient’s unique strengths and needs.
• Develops a discharge plan for case load as designated by the team.
• Monitors progress toward goals of care and identifies barriers to meeting estimated length of stay.
• Facilitates integration with community-based resources to optimize patient health.
• Activities are consistent with System mission and values and in compliance with applicable regulations and System policies and procedures.
• Partners with the physicians, nursing, and other members of the healthcare team to establish, document, implement and evaluate a plan of care based on the patient’s unique health strengths and needs.
• Brings psychological assessment skills; acute, long term, and community health expertise; learning theory; and multidisciplinary team expertise to the interdisciplinary team.
• Monitors progress of the plan of care and communicates any changes with the care team.
• To the extent possible, provides integrated – mind, body, spirit – service to the patient and family through a mutually agreed upon plan of care and patient advocate relationship.
• Supports System processes related to the health management of patients across the continuum of care, e.g. QI and/or clinical practice team membership, clinical research, quality monitoring, community networking.
• Assesses needs of patients/families and conceptualizes problem situations within social work Product of service using appropriate age-related skills.
• Provides direct social work services and counseling to patients and their families.
• Interprets social, psychological, emotional, financial and family issues for attending physicians and other health care team members.
• Demonstrates continued enhancement of professional skills.
• Complies with department and hospital policies and procedures.
• Supports organization goals to provide the best/optimal care to our patients and families, and community to our highest customer satisfaction.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Education:

• Master of Social Work from a school of Social Work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong psychosocial assessment skills.
• Strong critical thinking skills- must be capable of independent judgment, and have strong clinical decision-making skills.
• Skilled at working with patients and families coping with loss and grief.
• Excellent follow-through skills.
• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail required.
• Must have working knowledge of motivational theories, system theories, developmental theories, and group dynamics.
• Ability to work effectively with diverse populations, including those with respect to age, culture, ethnicity, and gender.
• Basic proficiency with word processing required; basic proficiency with databases strongly preferred.
• Must have strong written and oral communication skills.
• The Client Way is a set of value-based behaviors that are to be consistently demonstrated and role modeled by all employees that work at client.
• The Client Way principles consist of Caring, Communication, Collaboration, and Competence.
• Effective care-giving and advocacy skills for diverse clients- neonatal through geriatric- essential.
• Ability to build and maintain constructive relationships with team members, external service providers, System managers, and department staff – often within the context of competing interests – essential.
• Demonstrates respect for others perspectives.

Physical Effort:

• Some standing, walking, stooping, bending, twisting, periods of sitting and use of computer keyboard throughout the workday.
• Transportation available to cover referrals when other hospital needs coverage.