BWH Senior Social Worker Inpatient

The Senior Social Worker Inpatient serves as the senior clinician in the department and provides clinical supervision to assigned social workers. The individual in this role assists the director in the day-to-day operations of the department, including quality improvement activities. They attend treatment teams and consult on an as-needed basis with other team members around issues related to their expertise, including case management and disposition planning. The individual in this role also provides direct clinical service to assigned in-patients, inclusive of individual and family treatment interventions, case management, disposition planning and care consultation. The Senior Social Worker Inpatient is responsible for assessments, treatment and discharge planning for each patient assigned, and assists and serves as a resource to social workers in the department in problem solving on difficult to manage cases.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide clinical supervision to assigned social workers. Provide supervision at the frequency required for independent licensure.
• Assist the Director of Social Services in developing and revising departmental policies, procedures and protocols.
• In conjunction with the Director of Social Services, ensure that all staff are following department policies/procedures/protocols including but not limited to: documentation standards, providing weekly group treatment, patient satisfaction surveys, documentation standards, etc.
• Assist social workers in problem solving.
• Attend family and provider meetings with supervisees as appropriate and as needed.
• Research and compile lists of community resources for social workers to use for discharge/aftercare planning.
• Is familiar with the operations/treatment teams on all the inpatient units.
• Assume responsibility for the department in the Director’s absence.
• Participate in hospital wide committees.
• Assume role of social worker for those patients assigned. May be assigned to a unit or may be required to float to units as needed.
• Facilitate groups for patients as assigned on unit and documents patient participation on group notes.
• Communicate findings and progress of individual sessions, family meetings/consultation, provider meetings/consultation and disposition planning to treatment team and documents progress in patient’s medical record.
• Advocate for and educate family about resources and agency involvement to provide recommended levels of services upon discharge.
• Meet with patients on the day of case assignment and contact family within one day of case assignment. Individual and family interventions will be consistent with the assessment.
• Maintain progress notes twice weekly and update on treatment plan once per week in the medical record on unit.
• Present case assessment, interventions, and collaborations with other disciplines and initiates planned interventions at the treatment planning meeting.
• When indicated, involve family in aftercare planning and educational interventions. Document in progress notes reasons that interventions may not be possible.
• When patient is involved in ongoing outpatient therapy/agency/private treatment program, initiate contact with patient’s permission. Coordinate and collaborate with the community supports during the patient’s inpatient stay at a mutually agreed upon frequency.
• When a patient is involved with an agency or private treatment program, initiate contact with appropriate providers within one business day of initial assignment and documents this contact in a progress note.
• Advocate for agency involvement when necessary (DMH, DCF, DDS. DECE, etc.).
• Initiate applications for services (DMH, Medicare application, MA Health Application, etc.) within 24 hours of identified need for service and send completed applications within 48 hours maintaining a copy of document in the client’s record for future reference. Follow up with agency to ensure application received and documents follow-up in progress notes. Notify supervisor if assistance is needed with external agencies in obtaining services for clients.
• When child abuse or neglect is suspected, notify the proper authorities following Massachusetts Law and professional standards of practice. When neglect or abuse of a disabled person and or the elderly is suspected and disclosed directly to the social worker, notify the proper authorities following Massachusetts Law and professional standards of practice.
• Maintain communications with and coordinate information and interventions with team disciplines, including psychiatry, nursing and rehabilitation services as well as other collateral providers across the continuum and documents this contact and collaboration.
• Establish aftercare appointments with providers and communicate these to the patient and family. Ensure that pharmacology appointment is in place if client is discharged on medication or alerts supervisor and attending MD of reason why appointment is not in place.
• Provide psychosocial education relating to diagnosis, symptom management, resources for supporting recovery to patients and families and documents pt/family understanding of information provided and barriers to learning as well as plan to address barriers in progress notes.
• Attend all treatment team meetings, document specific interventions planned by worker, add problems identified from assessment, and consult on an as needed basis with other team members around issues of her/his expertise including case management.
• Inform the Utilization Review Department of the patients’ status and course of treatment.

Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in Social Work.
• LCSW or LICSW license required.
• Two years of supervisory experience highly preferred.
• Knowledge of major mental illness, i.e. schizophrenia and the impact of family.
• Knowledge of developmental stages and clinical implications regarding trauma informed and patient centered care.
• Knowledge and understanding of biological and sociocultural changes influencing the aged (geriatric population), adults, and adolescents.
• Knowledge of substance use disorders and treatment issues.
• Knowledge of family systems dynamics.
• Competency in delivering patient care that is trauma informed and patient centered as indicated by:

• Providing care that is kind, collaborative and compassionate.

• Ability to defuse power struggles and lack of need to “win.”

• Appropriate assessment of clients for a history of trauma.

• Recognition/assessment of a range of trauma-related behaviors.

• Implementations of trauma-sensitive interventions with people served.

• Must be able to sit for up to 8 hours.

Salary : $80,000 - $90,000