What Do Healthcare Social Workers Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

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Job Description, Daily Responsibilities, and Work Life

Healthcare Social Workers

Healthcare Social Workers provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include advising family caregivers. Provide patients with information and counseling, and make referrals for other services. May also provide case and care management or interventions designed to promote health, prevent disease, and address barriers to access to healthcare.

Salary
$60470
Becoming One
Very Hard
Education
Master's degree
Job Satisfaction
Job Growth

Personality



Job Description

Job Description

Healthcare Social Workers provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include advising family care givers, providing patient education and counseling, and making referrals for other services. May also provide care and case management or interventions designed to promote health, prevent disease, and address barriers to access to healthcare. They also collaborate with other professionals to evaluate patients’ medical or physical condition and to assess client needs.

Other tasks include:

  • Advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises.
  • Refer patient, client, or family to community resources to assist in recovery from mental or physical illness and to provide access to services such as financial assistance, legal aid, housing, job placement or education.
  • Investigate child abuse or neglect cases and take authorized protective action when necessary.
  • Counsel clients and patients in individual and group sessions to help them overcome dependencies, recover from illness, and adjust to life.
  • Plan discharge from care facility to home or other care facility.
  • Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress according to measurable goals described in treatment and care plan.

We asked Healthcare Social Workers how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

Job satisfaction

70%

How meaningful is this job

80%


70% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 80% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.



Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Healthcare Social Workers advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises. They identify environmental impediments to client or patient progress through interviews and review of patient records.

A typical day for a Healthcare Social Worker will also include:

  • Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress according to measurable goals described in treatment and care plan.
  • Refer patient, client, or family to community resources to assist in recovery from mental or physical illness and to provide access to services such as financial assistance, legal aid, housing, job placement or education.
  • Counsel clients and patients in individual and group sessions to help them overcome dependencies, recover from illness, and adjust to life.
  • Oversee Medicaid- and Medicare-related paperwork and recordkeeping in hospitals.
  • Collaborate with other professionals to evaluate patients’ medical or physical condition and to assess client needs.

We asked some Healthcare Social Workers a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job? 96% said yes
How important is it to work in a team in this job? 72% said very important
Do you have group discussions everyday in this job? 100% said yes
Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job? 64% said yes
Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job? 29% said yes
Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job? 56% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Healthcare Social Workers also organize support groups or counsel family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, and supporting the client or patient. They may also advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Healthcare Social Workers Refer patient, client, or family to community resources to assist in recovery from mental or physical illness and to provide access to services such as financial assistance, legal aid, housing, job placement or education. They might also Supervise and direct other workers providing services to clients or patients.

In addition, they Develop or advise on social policy and assist in community development.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress according to measurable goals described in treatment and care plan.

To some Healthcare Social Workers, it is also their responsibility to Modify treatment plans to comply with changes in clients’ status.


Working life

Working hours

Standard 40 hour work week

Working schedule

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Healthcare Social Worker, you can expect to work 40 hour work week.

Do Healthcare Social Workers work in an office-style work environment?

Every day
76%


Once a week
12%


Do Healthcare Social Workers work outdoors?

Never
56%


Once a month
16%



Is this right for me

Best personality for this career

The Helpers and The Thinkers

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with, communicating with, and teaching people. They like helping or providing service to others..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

You can read more about these career personality types here.



Learn more about Healthcare Social Workers

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Related to Healthcare Social Workers Job Description

Healthcare Social Workers job description, what do Healthcare Social Workers do, typical day for Healthcare Social Workers, what is it like to work as a Healthcare Social Worker, how many hours do Healthcare Social Workers work, day to day work of a Healthcare Social Worker

Additional resources

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/community-and-social-service/social-workers.htm
https://www.abecsw.org/
http://www.acosa.org/
https://www.socialworkers.org/


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