What are the responsibilities and job description for the Social Worker Home Hospice position at Conway Medical Center?
Position Summary:
The Social Worker is responsible for the delivery of various social work services to hospice patients and their families. Major responsibilities include providing the initial psychosocial evaluation, ongoing psychosocial counseling, direct casework services, bereavement services and community education, outreach, and referrals. It is the responsibility of the Social Worker to provide medical social services. The person must be a qualified professional with experience and education in grief or loss counseling.
Job Duties:
- Assess the social and emotional factors related to the patient’s illness, need for care, response to treatment, and adjustment to care.
- Assess the relationship of the patient’s medical and nursing requirements to the patient’s home situation, financial resources, and availability of community resources, to include funeral arrangements if needed.
- Provide counseling services that are required by the patient, family member, and/or caregiver as needed.
- Provide intervention when necessary to remove a clear and direct impediment to the effective treatment of the patient’s medical condition or to the patient’s rate of recovery.
- Perform comprehensive initial psychosocial evaluation.
- Assist in the development and implementation of goal-directed family care plans.
- Conduct ongoing reassessment of patient and family needs.
- Provide short-term crisis intervention and individual and family counseling.
- Observe, evaluate, and bring to team conferences information regarding psychosocial, spiritual, physical, and financial conditions affecting the patient and family.
- Facilitate development in the interdisciplinary group, plan of care to meet identified psychosocial needs.
- Assume the active role of advocate for the patient and/or family.
- Maintain proper records of visits to patients and/or families utilizing electronic documentation.
- Have an organized program for the provision of bereavement services if applicable.
- Make bereavement services that reflect the needs of the bereaved available to the family and other individuals in the bereavement plan of care, if applicable.
- Bereavement counseling to patients when appropriate and identified in the bereavement plan of care.
- Develop a bereavement plan of care that notes the kind of bereavement services to be offered and the frequency of service delivered, if applicable.
- Refer family to community resources such as support groups and counselors.
- Obtain available community resources to assist in meeting the patient and family needs.
- Develop and maintain contact with appropriate community agencies and services in order to promote interagency cooperation and to facilitate referrals.
- Participate in committees, task forces, and agency events.
- Assist in orientation of new employees.
- Market and provide community education.
- Participation and marketing in public relations and community activities that promote the organization and its role as an effective member of the hospice and healthcare delivery system as well as customer service promotion.
- Assure appropriate electronic documentation.
- Must be available during normal work hours (unless previously approved by direct supervisor). Additional hours may be required to complete normal business functions and/or projects.
- Perform other duties as requested or required, in the sole discretion of CMC Hospice House.
- Maintain records of social service utilization and related activities for the QAPI program, program development, and policies and procedure review and revision.
Qualifications:
Education/Licensure:
- Bachelor’s of Social Work from an accredited school of social work required.
- Master’s of Social Work preferred.
- Must hold a current license as a Social Worker (LSW) by South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation required.
- Current South Carolina Drivers License required.
Experience:
- Minimum of three (3) years of Social Work experience required.
- Previous Social Work experience in hospice and/or related healthcare setting is preferred.
- Ability to read and communicate effectively.
- Strong written and verbal skills.
- Basic computer knowledge.
- Should demonstrate good interpersonal and communication skills under all conditions and circumstances.
- Ability to foster a cooperative work environment.
- Team player with ability to manage multiple responsibilities and demonstrate sound judgment.
- Must be able to work flexible hours and travel between offices, facilities, etc.
- Understand hospice philosophy and issues of death and dying.
