Social Worker - Royal Columbian Hospital

Detailed Overview

Reporting clinically to the Professional Practice Chief, Social Work and administratively to the Manager, Clinical Services, provides clinical and consultative services to patients and families by conducting assessments, counseling and planning for patient discharge by exploring, identifying and determining required community resources.

• Responsibilities Conducts social work assessments in order to identify the patient's and family's coping abilities and anticipated needs upon discharge;
• completes written reports for inclusion in patient health record. Provides clinical counseling services to patients and families regarding identified problems, personal concerns and treatment objectives;

consults and collaborates with the interdisciplinary teams regarding patient care issues, resources and the discharge planning process.

Provides consultative and direct services to patients, families and staff regarding community resources and access to these resources in order to facilitate optimal discharge planning.

Provides in-service education to staff through various tools such as presentations and workshops as required. Participates in department or program-sponsored research through various methods such as literature searches, administering surveys and analyzing data as required.

Provides workload measurement statistics for submission to department. Participates in program and community resource development activities by working with community service agencies and the hospital in order to respond to identified gaps in service and recognized patient needs.

Performs other related duties as assigned. Qualifications Education and Experience Bachelor's degree in Social Work from an approved school of Social Work, plus one year recent related clinical social work experience in an healthcare setting.

Current full registration with the BC College of Social Workers. Skills and Abilities Knowledge and understanding of psycho emotional and social issues related to illness / injury / disease and current social work treatments Knowledge of counseling skills and clinical practice models including brief solution-focused therapeutic intervention, crisis intervention and resource counseling Knowledge of legislation / acts applicable to social work within the health care environment Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing with patients, health care team and external stakeholders Ability to work effectively with others as part of an interdisciplinary team and understanding the frameworks of other disciplines Ability to educate and provide consultation to patients and other healthcare professionals Ability to make effective referrals, reflecting in-depth knowledge of resources and strong collaborative skills in working with other health and external resources Ability to organize and prioritize workload in a complex environment Ability to operate related equipment including applicable software applications Physical ability to carry out the duties of the position