Well, I think I'm ready to start this blog "for real" this time. I have a good solid start on the Social Work Cafe, and now it's time for me to have fun bloggin'.

I've kicked around a few ideas for this blog, and have settled for the "Day in the Life" format. I thought it might be interesting for social work students to see a personal journal of a social worker. Also, there is a therapuetic element to journaling, that will allow me to work-out my own stress. 

Just a little background about myself....

I just started a new job as a Hospice social worker, in the state of Illinois, USA. I'm 32 (well almost 33) years old, still a newly-wed, and have worked in the field of social work since 1998. Past job experience has focused on the geriatric and homeless/low-income populations. I am preparing to take the clinical social work licensing exam, and hope to sit for the boards by the summer of 2008.  

On the Job.... 

I was hired by a hospice company this past March. It is a national company that has just opened up it's first office in Illinois. I was hired on a PRN basis (meaning that I only work as needed), with the job title of Social Worker and Director of Volunteers. Once the agency has a caseload of 40 patients, I should be able to be hired as a full-time Social Worker. 

The first phase of my job has been filled with training, and building program protocols, more training, and building community linkages. I believe that part of any profession is continuing education, but I have also had to adjust my thinking of documentation and case management to fit the new Medicare Hospice requirements. Now all team member documentation needs to be written in the negative, which speaks to patient decline and the necessity of continued Hospice services. This has been a huge challenge for me.

Luckily, I have the support of a wonderful team, and supervisors who are also facing their own struggles to adjust to new rules and job roles. It's a unique way of being introduced to a new company, and uplifting to think that we are all building something together. my superiors are from the nursing profession, yet they have worked for over 20 years in the hospice field and they all respect the work of social workers. Healthcare is the one realm that I have felt this respect on a consistent basis from my peers. Being part of an inter-disciplinary team is something that I strongly suggest that every new social worker looks for in a job.

Because this is a new agency we rely on the principle of "mentorship". This is probably why the Social Work Cafe has a new "Mentor Match" program. I find having mentors, I like to call them my "touch-stones", an invaluable resource for the questions that arise that I feel can't be answered without a lengthy discussion. For example, my whole question of how to write progress notes in the negative. For a social worker who has been trained to use a "strengths perspective" and help clients set their own goals, this is very weird. I also, tend to see the positive in a situation, like....

"Client is Alert and dis-oriented. Client seems to be able to recognize when a new person comes into the room and seeks interaction."

To me this is not a contrary statement. But to a nurse it seems to be. We must have different definitions of the word "dis-oriented". So I strive to breakdown my statements to mostly observations instead of statements, the exception would be when I have a client who I could do counseling with. Then I can say the goals of the counseling session.

Anyway this, "re-programming" of my mind is worth it because it doesn't change my inter-actions with the clients or their families, and as my supervisor said "it allows the client to stay in the program since Medicare will approve of payments". I know this sounds a little strange, almost like it is fishing for clients by stating the negatives as a constant, but I'm sure there is a way that physical decline can be shown with goals being completed at the same time.

All in all, it has been an interesting journey so far in this new job, and I'm sure it will continue being a rewarding experience.

In the next blog entry, I hope to write about a client experience.