Acute Social Worker - BSW

About the role

This is a casual Social Worker position supporting our Masonic Pediatric Care Management team. Casual Social Workers are expected to fulfill one weekend or on-call commitment per month, which can be met through one of the following options: work one weekend per month on-site, or participate in one on-call rotation per month. On-call rotations are either Monday through Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. each day, or Friday at 4:30 p.m. through Monday at 8:00 a.m. Casual team members also have the opportunity to pick up available on-site shifts during the week. In addition, you are required to work one holiday per year, either on-site or as part of an on-call rotation. While on call, you must be available to come into the hospital if an on-site need arises. This does not happen frequently, but the ability to report to the hospital when needed is a requirement of the position. Overall the acute social worker works on-site with the interdisciplinary teams including providers, physical therapists, nurses, dieticians, chaplains and pharmacists to assist patients and families in navigating through their hospitalization. The acute social worker completes psychosocial assessments, care planning/progression and creates comprehensive discharge plans from the hospital. The social worker is patient facing, responds to crisis situations, manages patient and family expectations, creates solutions to identified discharge barriers and aims to reduce length of stay and prevent avoidable hospital readmissions.

Responsibilities

• Attends daily in person interdisciplinary care team rounds
• Conducts thorough psychosocial assessments with patients and/or their surrogate decision makers
• Helps the care team navigate and mediate complex psychosocial dynamics
• Is well versed in the surrogate decision maker policy and assists care team members with identifying surrogate decision makers according to the policy
• Communicates frequently with the interdisciplinary team to ensure continuity and effective coordination of care
• Provides emotional support surrounding adjustment to sudden illness, grief/bereavement and end of life planning
• Addresses social determinants of health and assists with connecting patients to needed resources in the community such as chemical dependency treatment, domestic violence resources, housing stabilization services, mental health services, food shelves, transportation, financial assistance etc.
• Arranges and facilitates in person care conferences as needed to support patients and their families surrounding navigating complex medical decision-making processes/goals of care
• Documents all interactions thoroughly and timely following established department standard work
• Serves as the expert in system adult and child protection reporting policies
• Collaborates with patients, families and interdisciplinary teams in developing an individualized discharge plan based on age, social and cultural considerations, clinical diagnoses, level of functioning and other relevant needs
• Participates in hospital initiatives and projects to reduce length of stay and related barriers which may include collaborating with providers for clinical adjustments in care

Qualifications

Required:

• B.S./B.A. Bachelor's degree in social work
• Less than 1 year experience working in a healthcare