Social Worker Per Diem - Hospice

The per diem social worker assists with coverage for both outpatient and inpatient hospice social workers. This position provides coverage when core social workers are out of the office and weekend/holiday coverage for the inpatient unit (Peppi’s House). The social worker is one of the interdisciplinary team members that provides care to hospice patients. TMC Hospice cares for pediatric and adult patients either in their home environment or the inpatient unit.

SUMMARY:

Interviews patients and relatives to obtain social history relevant to patient's medical problems and assess bereavement risk relative to anticipatory grief and family members needs post death. 

Assists patients with environmental difficulties that interfere with obtaining maximum benefits from medical care.  Serves as liaison between medical and nursing staffs, patients, relatives, and appropriate outside agencies.  Interprets and assists in resolving social problems that relate to medical condition and/or hospitalization.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS :

Interviews patients and family members to obtain information about home environment, family relationships, health history, and patient’s personality traits.

Plans, organizes, directs and schedules spiritual programs and services that meet the needs of patients/families, hospital employees, and medical staff.

Consults with hospital staff regarding hospital ministry; collaborates with members of the hospital care team in identifying and resolving problems. 

Acts as a liaison between patient, family, and hospital staff during periods of crisis, e.g. illness, dying, lengthy or difficult surgery.

Assists in developing and implementing the patient’s care plan.

Interprets nature of illness and prescribed course of treatment to patients and families; communicates family issues to other staff members; participates in planning conferences.

Plans for needed care with nurse practitioner, physician, patient, and family. 

Introduces programs designed to meet the needs of the elderly after discharge and make appropriate referrals and arrangements for services.

Acts as liaison between medical/nursing staff, patients, families, and community, arranging for post-discharge care and patient’s transportation.

Maintains current, accurate documentation in the client’s medical record

Adheres to TMC organizational and department-specific safety, confidentiality, values, policies and standards.

Performs related duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION:  Master’s degree in Social Work or a related field required for all departments. For Hospice, Master’s degree in Social Work required, and licensure as LCSW or LMSW is preferred.

EXPERIENCE :   Two (2) years of social work experience in an acute care setting preferred.

LICENSURE OR CERTIFICATION: HeartSaver First Aid/CPR or Basic Life Support (BLS) certification required per department. Valid AZ fingerprint clearance card may be required per department.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: 

·         Knowledge of interviewing techniques used to garner personal and health information to better assist patient.

·         Skill in assessing socio-economic factors that might hinder a patient from getting the best care.

·         Ability to read and comprehend simple instructions, short correspondence, and memos. 

·         Ability to write simple correspondence. 

·         Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to customers, clients, and other employees of the organization.

·         Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.

·         Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.

·         Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.