First, I would like to say that I am a psychiatric social worker That works in a medical hospital. What I know about medical social work comes from brief periods where I've had to cover other responsibilities, I have spoke with past colleagues, or what I observe. In medical social work, at least from the experiences that I am aware of, primarily is concerned with addressing the social needs, family needs, And helping with disposition planning. So what that means is that the social worker is often involved with helping to connect people to resources outside of the hospital. the resources I'm talking about would include domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, food pantries, Etc. The social workers in our Hospital also are in charge of helping getting people placed into nursing homes. There are entire processes involved around assessments referrals and communication with outside agencies to get people adequately placed into other Healthcare facilities outside of a hospital. in Social Work settings that involve working with families, the medical social worker may be involved with facilitating or helping the patient who for whatever reason has DCS involved in their life. I know in the hospital where I work, I have also helped with making arrangements 2 facilitate additional Steps needed to facilitate adoptions. The medical social worker will do a psychosocial assessment that will broadly look to see if someone has problems related to drug use or mental illness. The medical social worker often is involved with arranging family conferences where the social worker helps the family and providers in the hospital to discuss How to help their loved one when they go to the next level of care. Sometimes if a social worker is involved with a palliative care process, They may help families with making final arrangements or finding resources for them to make final Arrangements. The medical social worker often collaborates with other members of the medical team To refer to other facilities. In our Hospital, the social workers also help with obtaining needed home equipment such as wheelchairs, Walkers, respiratory equipment. Often social workers are involved with helping to secure emergency detention orders or whatever those are called in your state so that there is a hold on a patient who is danger to themselves or someone else. a secondary role for the social worker may also be To be a general emotional support for patients, families, and other staff. I'm sure there are other duties I don't know. I'm sure and other settings these duties could be divided up by different roles or Professions. Perhaps in other Settings the social worker may do more or less than what's been described here. Normally they work full time during the day because that is when most outside agencies they will work with do their business. There is usually someone in the ed to cover that 24/7 and maybe even a sw on call for other problems. In the Midwest medical social workersI know earn between 40 and 50k. Usually working for a hospital gives great benefits too! It may be more in an urban setting, or even in bigger or specialized roles. I have dictated this particular message in my auto-correct keeps switching around I hope this makes sense Please excuse the grammar.
