Social Worker, As Needed (PRN)

At Stillwater Hospice, we foster and support growth, teamwork, and good work-life balance among all staff.

We offer competitive wages and benefits in our team-forward, positive care environment. We look forward to talking to you today about joining our team!

Compensation is based on total years of experience in previous clinical roles.

In this role, you'll care for patients in our 13 serviced counties, but focused in Allen, Wells, & Adams counties.

You will be working on-call on weekday evenings or on weekends.

We pride ourselves on promoting an Excellent Work/Life Balance and providing Excellent Employee Benefits.

• 403b Retirement Plan for all employees with no cost access to a Financial Advisor and a strong Company Match for full-time employees.
• Shift Incentive Pay, Performance Incentives, & Mileage Reimbursement.
• Company-provided Uniform allowance.
• A Robust Employee Assistance Program (EAP) program for Employees & Family household members.
• New hire referral Finder's Bonus.
• Free employee access to the services and programs at the Peggy F. Murphy Community Grief Center.
• A newly remodeled, modern Inpatient Unit.
• Newly built Staff Respite Room in the Hospice Home IPU.
• Multiple employee engagement events per year: Wellness/Health Events, Quarterly Employee Benefit Fairs, Organization picnics, and Organization holiday events.
• A strong commitment to promoting and advancing employees from within the organization.
• The campus is connected to the Fort Wayne Trails system.

POSITION TITLE: SOCIAL WORKER, HOSPICE

FLSA STATUS: NON-EXEMPT/HOURLY

REPORTS TO: SOCIAL WORK COORDINATOR

POSITION OBJECTIVES:

To provide all social service interventions for patients and their families who are enrolled in an agency program as appropriate.

To provide education/consultation to all staff and volunteers to aid in grief and loss issues.

Provide education in the community on agency programs and end-of-life issues.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in social work is required from an accredited school of social work.
• Minimum of one (1) year experience in providing medical social work services.
• Must hold an active Indiana social work license (LBSW, LSW) OR
• Must have an active temporary social work license and obtain full licensure within the first year of employment.
• Must have knowledge and ability to determine appropriate social service roles required to assist patient/family in maximizing the independent functioning that was impaired by the patient's physical illness.
• Ability to function independently and to work with medical professionals in the
  community.
• Ability to establish rapport with a wide variety of individuals.
• Must be able to safely perform the job's essential functions without posing a direct threat to the health and/or safety of self or others in the workplace.
  Must have an active Indiana motor vehicle operator’s license and have access to an automobile with current automobile insurance coverage.
• Must be able to drive independently to all patients'/family clients’ homes.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• A qualified Social Worker provides Medical Social Services under the direction of a physician & in accordance with a plan of care.
• All services are provided by a professional social worker (LBSW or LSW)
• Medical Social Services include:
  • Assessing emotional factors related to terminal illness.
  • Assisting the physician & other IDT/IDG members in recognizing & understanding the social/mental stress and/or disorder that exacerbates the symptoms related to the terminal illness.
  • Assessing the patient/family's psychosocial status, potential risk of suicide, and/or abuse or neglect.
  • Assessing environmental resources & obstacles to maintaining safety.
  • Participating in the development & revision of a plan of care
  • Providing social services including:
    • Short-term individual counseling
    • Crisis intervention
    • Assistance in providing information & preparation of advance directives.
    • Funeral planning issues & transfer of responsibilities regarding fiscal, legal, and healthcare decisions.
  • Preparing clinical & progress notes.
  • Identifying family dynamics and communication patterns and involving the patient/family in the plan of care.
  • Identifying & utilizing appropriate community resources and assessing patient/family ability to access them (food and meal resources; financial and legal services; community caregivers).
• Participating in in-service programs.
• Evaluating patient/family response to psychosocial interventions.
• Assessing the caregiver’s ability to function adequately.
• Assessing the need for counseling related to risk assessment for complicated grief.
• Assessing special needs related to cultural diversity, including communication, space, the role of family members, and special traditions.
• Identifying the developmental level of the patient/family and obstacles to learning or ability to participate in the patient's care.
• Addressing patient/family questions and issues.
• Identifying obstacles to compliance and assisting in understanding the goals of interventions.
• Identifying support systems available to reduce stress and facilitate coping with end-of-life care.
• Evaluating long-term care when appropriate and assessing the ability to accept change in the level of care.
• Communicating psychosocial information to an inpatient facility when the level of care is changed.
• Assisting patients/families in assessing financial resources when appropriate.
• Identifying patient/family in assessing financial resources when appropriate.
• Evaluating patient/family response to intervention(s) when referred to community agency and satisfaction with the service(s) provided.
• Assessing bereavement needs.
• Helping to provide end-of-life education to patients and families.
• Recognizes emergencies and has knowledge of emergency procedures according to Agency policy.
• Participates in Social Work on-call rotation.
• Adheres to Stillwater Hospice policies.
• Adheres to Stillwater Hospice privacy practices described in the Notice of Privacy Practices.
• When requested, participate in quality improvement activities and/or other agency committees or task forces.
• Must be proficient and timely in all aspects of clinical documentation, including data entry.
• Must display compassion, be a team player, have an optimistic outlook, and be adaptive, accountable, and customer-driven.
• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

ESSENTIAL PHYSICAL/MENTAL FUNCTIONS:

• Possesses analytical abilities sufficient to make decisions relating to complex problem situations.
• Demonstrates conceptual skills to coordinate and integrate the organization’s interests and activities as a whole and to understand how its parts depend on each other.
• Must be able to engage in clear, concise verbal/non-verbal communication.
• Must be able to perform tasks involving physical activity such as lifting (i.e., boxes of computer paper and bound reports), extensive bending and standing, reaching, handling objects, fingering, and discriminating colors.
• Must be able to endure long periods of sitting while driving.
• Must be able to remain calm in occasional emergencies and possess knowledge of agency emergency procedures.

ESSENTIAL HAZARDOUS PHYSICAL EXPOSURES:

• Must be willing to travel in inclement weather.
• Potential exposure to infectious diseases.
• The potential threat of physical violence to self. (Security personnel available upon request.)
• Potential exposure to dangerous and invasive creatures, such as dogs, rodents, insects, etc.

CHEMICAL OR HAZARDOUS PHYSICAL EXPOSURES:

• Potential exposure to substances within the office environment, including copy machine toner, VDT emissions, and cleaning solvents.
• Potential exposure to chemical/cleaning substances in the patient’s home environment.

ESSENTIAL PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT REQUIRED:

• Universal blood and body fluid precautions will be consistently used for all patients.
• The employer provides protective clothing and equipment at no cost to the employee.
• According to state law, seat belts must be worn when traveling during working hours.

OTHER SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

• Must be willing to accept assignments without regard to location, socioeconomic environment, disease, or ethnic origin.
• As requested, you must be willing to make after-hours and/or weekend visits.

The published compensation range for this position reflects a good faith estimate of starting base pay for full-time (40 hours per week) employment at the time of posting. The base pay may be higher or lower based on demonstrated job-related experience.