What are the responsibilities and job description for the Social Worker - Patient Advocate position at Kaiser?
Job Summary
We are seeking a skilled and compassionate Social Worker - Patient Advocate to join our interdisciplinary team at Kaiser Permanente. In this critical role, you will provide comprehensive psychosocial assessments, coordination, and implementation of age-appropriate social medicine services to meet the needs of patients and their families in the hospital setting.
Responsibilities:
- Participate as a member of the inpatient multidisciplinary care team providing social medicine expertise in response to care team referrals and case finding of high-need populations.
- Complete psychosocial assessments of hospitalized patients, identify psychosocial needs, develop, and implement plans of care, documenting according to departmental standards and federal/state regulations.
- Assist patients and their support systems with coping strategies related to illness and hospitalization, conducting social medicine consultations, and providing information and referrals to community resources for post-discharge support.
- Apply knowledge base, theoretical concepts, specific functional skills, and essential social values to effect change in human behavior, emotional responses, and social conditions.
- Contribute to patient discharge planning by assessing patient and support system choices, educating them on risks and benefits, and facilitating discharge.
- Provide information, resource identification, referral services, mediation, advocacy, and education to patients and their support systems.
Qualifications
To be successful in this role, you must possess a Master's degree in social work and be licensed as a Clinical Social Worker (Hawaii) or Licensed Social Worker (Hawaii). A minimum of one year of experience in a healthcare setting is also required, along with basic life support certification from the American Heart Association.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with interdisciplinary team function
- Knowledge of medical terminology, psychosocial impact of serious illnesses
- Demonstrated ability to interrelate with physicians, nurses, support staff, and patients
- Familiarity with care processes and systems in settings internal and external to Kaiser Permanente
- Knowledge of principles of patient teaching, delegation, care planning, and appropriate utilization of acute hospital, long-term care, and home care resources
- Demonstrates customer-focused service skills
- Knowledge of community resources, family dynamics, and dying process
- Keyboarding or typing skills
