Medical Social Worker - Full Time, 40 hours per week - Advanced Illness Management - Battle Creek MI

Bronson Healthcare•Battle Creek, NE

10d•Onsite

About The Position

This role is for a Medical Social Worker within the Advanced Illness Management program at Bronson Battle Creek. The position is full-time, 40 hours per week. The Medical Social Worker is responsible for delivering palliative care social work services to patients and families affected by serious and life-limiting illnesses. This involves addressing psychosocial needs to maintain or improve quality of life, focusing on biopsychosocial components from a strengths-based perspective. The role includes direct services to patients and families, leadership in community education, resource development, and advocating for policies that promote equal access to care. The social worker will work as part of an interdisciplinary team, providing support, information, and interventions related to discharge planning, symptom relief, and psychosocial distress. The position requires a Master's Degree in Social Work and full licensure in the state of Michigan, with a requirement to obtain certification as a Hospice & Palliative Social Worker within 12-18 months of hire. The hours will flex to team and patient needs, including weekend coverage approximately twice a year and holiday rotation.

Requirements

Master's Degree in Social Work with experience of 4 or more years combined in medical social work and hospice or palliative care.
Licensure in the state of Michigan as a Social Worker required (Must be fully licensed, limited license not acceptable).
Must obtain certification as Hospice & Palliative Social Worker within 12-18 months of hire.
Masters Degree Limited License Professional Counselor (LLPC) or Masters Degree Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) Required.
Work which produces high levels of mental/visual fatigue, e.g., interactive and repetitive or small detailed work requiring alertness and concentration for sustained periods of time, the operation of and full attention to a personal computer or CRT between 40 and 70 percent of the time.
Involves regularly lifting of bulky or moderately heavy weights (i.e., up to 50 pounds), and occasionally assisting with heavier tasks or expending the equivalent effort in pushing, pulling, or otherwise handling material, equipment, and other objects.
Demonstrates excellent human relation skills including verbal and written communication, problem solving, advocacy, assertiveness and empathy skills.
Has a customer service orientation.
Demonstrates an attitude of compassion and sensitivity to clients, respecting clients’ rights to self-determination and dignity.
Social workers shall be aware of their own beliefs, values, and feelings and how their personal self may influence their practice.
Will show, and continue to develop, specialized knowledge and understanding about history, traditions, values, and family systems as they relate to palliative and end of life care within different groups.
Social workers shall be knowledgeable about, and act in accordance with, the NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice (NASW, 2001).
Regularly communicates clearly and effectively, both verbally and in writing, as a demonstration of the function of effective process and relationships with the patient and members of the interdisciplinary team.
Communicates with internal customers such as, physicians, multi-disciplinary team, finance, and management.
Demonstrates effective interviewing, problem-solving and critical thinking in providing services to patients.
Communicates effectively with external customers such as, patients, third party payers, community agencies on a daily basis and often simultaneously.
Regularly utilizes effective negotiation and conflict resolution skills as needed.
Functions as part of an interdisciplinary effort for the comprehensive delivery of palliative and end of life services.
All rights officers, advisors and alternates attend MDHHS-ORR ORR Basic Skills Training Programs within 3 months of hire.
Rights officers, advisors and alternates will attain 36 hours of continuing education every 3 years, with 12 credits in "operations" or "legal".
The policy requires that rights staff acquire at least 3 continuing education credits each calendar year (CMHSP/LPH Contract).

Nice To Haves

The hours will flex to the team and patient needs. This includes weekend coverage for the MSW approximately twice each year and holiday rotation.

Responsibilities

Responsible for the delivery of palliative care social work services to all medical areas of the hospital to a variety of patients including pediatric, adolescent, adult and geriatric populations.
Address the psychosocial needs of patients and families affected by serious and life-limiting illness to maintain, or improve, their optimal quality of life.
Focus on the biopsychosocial components of health and mental health from a strengths-based perspective, with intervention based on an evolving plan of care developed in the context of, and contributing to the interdisciplinary team’s comprehensive plan of care.
Provide direct services to patients and their families.
Provide leadership in their organizations through community education and the development of resources, services, and programs to meet patient and caregiver needs.
Advocate for policies that promote equal access to care for all populations and ensure high quality and state of the art social work services in all communities.
Demonstrate a working knowledge of the theoretical and biopsychosocial factors essential to effectively practice with clients and professionals.
Collaborate with team members and advocate for clients’ needs with objectivity and respect to reinforce relationships with providers who have cared for the patient along the continuum of illness.
Follow the patient’s psychosocial needs from assignment by the Palliative Care provider until a clinically appropriate safe discharge plan is obtained, as agreed upon by the PC provider.
Meet with patient and family routinely, providing support and information regarding direction of discharge planning.
Assess and enhance patient/family strengths and coping skills, along with assessing for psychosocial distress and complicated grief.
Identify patient’s/family’s unique psychosocial & emotional needs.
Identify problems surrounding the crisis situation and may act as patient advocate to ameliorate such problems.
Assess patient/family risk for psychosocial distress or complicated grief.
Assess and enhance patient/family strengths and coping skills in order to provide appropriate intervention.
Assess and enhance the responsiveness of the environment and connecting the patient, family, caregiver with community resources as needed.
Identify psychosocial interventions to be offered as part of the evolving comprehensive plan of care developed in accordance with the patient’s/family’s wishes and the interdisciplinary team.
Incorporate assessments in developing and implementing intervention plans that enhance the clients’ abilities and decisions in palliative and end of life care.
Provide intervention for specific symptom relief and to reduce risk for distress.
Assess and manage psychosocial aspects of pain.
Screen for psychopathology and abuse and educating and intervening accordingly.
Evaluate the efficacy of treatment interventions.
Advocate for the needs, decisions, and rights of clients in palliative and end of life care.
Advocate for legislative and organizational policies and procedures that seek to ensure all patients and families facing serious and life-limiting illness have equal access to quality palliative and end of life care.
Identify the need for, develop plan of care including coordination and scheduling of family meeting, and make referrals to community agencies and other healthcare specialists.
Plan for patient discharge to ensure the appropriate follow-up treatment and support is available and provided for after leaving the department or hospital.
Obtain gas cards, meal passes etc. for patients on service when applicable.
Assist with applications for community-based services and provide financial assistance information.
Collaborate and communicate with other members of the patient (providers, chaplain, unit MSW, etc.) care team to understand each situation from different perspectives and recommend or provide immediate treatment and solution focused interventions.
Thoroughly document each case and enter appropriate information into the computer and on the patient chart.
Use EPIC “sticky notes”, along with DCP documentation to communicate to patient care team (i.e. physicians, nurses, unit MSW, etc.) the assigned PC MSW.
Participate in the development of departmental policies, procedures and protocols.
Attend departmental meetings to keep informed of department policies and practices and facilitate team goals, such as performance improvement, staff meetings, speaker presentations, etc.
Attend the daily Palliative Care team meetings.
Attend monthly MSW team meetings and present annually at these meeting to provide Palliative Care education and information to the MSW department.
Present at two departments other than MSW and PC annually to provide education and Palliative Care information.
Continue to develop specialized knowledge and understanding about history, traditions, values, and family systems as they relate to palliative and end of life care within different groups.
Be knowledgeable about, and act in accordance with, the NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice (NASW, 2001).
Assume responsibility for one’s own professional development in the field of palliative care.
Identify and provide for learning needs of patients, families, and health care co-workers.
Develop and support a positive work climate and the overall team effort of both the Social Work and Palliative Care departments.
Provide or coordinate the protection of recipient rights for all directly operated or contracted services.
Ensure that recipients, parents of minor recipients, and guardians or other legal representatives have access to The Rights Booklet of their rights guaranteed by the Michigan Mental Health Code and are notified of those rights in an understandable manner, both at the time services are initiated and periodically during the time services are provided to the recipient.
Ensure that the telephone number and address of the Office of Recipient Rights and the name of Rights Advisor are conspicuously posted in all service sites.
Maintain a record system for all reports of apparent or suspected rights violations received including a mechanism for logging in all complaints and a mechanism for secure storage of all investigative documents as evidence.
Ensure that each service site is visited with the frequency necessary for protection of rights but in no case less than annually.
Serve as consultant to Chief Executive Officer or his or her designee, Risk Management Department, and other directors and to the associates of BLH in matters related to recipient rights.
Ensure that all reports of apparent or suspected violations of rights within Bronson LakeView Hospital are investigated in accordance with section 330.1778 of the Michigan Mental Health Code.
Conduct investigations in a manner that does not violate employee rights.
Intervene upon and record reports that do not warrant investigation in accordance with subdivision (d) of the Michigan Mental Health Code.
Semiannually provide summary complaint data consistent with the annual report required by the Code, together with a summary of remedial action taken on substantiated complaints by category, to the State of Michigan and to the Recipient Rights Advisory Committee.
Coordinate meetings and activities of the Recipient Rights Advisory Committee and be the holder of the record of this committee.
Serve as advocate to all recipients and their families.
Provide recipients assistance to make contact with other advocacy groups, as needed.
Collaborate with Community Mental Health when appropriate.
Submit to the governing board of BHG and to the State of Michigan Office of Recipient Rights an annual report prepared by the Office of Recipient Rights on the current status of recipient rights at Bronson LakeView Hospital and a review of the operations of the Office of Recipient Rights.
The annual report shall include, at a minimum, all of the following: Summary data by category regarding the rights of recipients receiving services from Bronson LakeView Neurobehavioral Health, including complaints received, the number of reports filed, and the number of reports investigated by the Office of Recipient Rights. The number of substantiated rights violations by category. The remedial actions taken on substantiated rights violations by category. Training received by associates of the Office of Recipient Rights. Training provided by the Office of Recipient Rights. Desired outcomes established for the Office of Recipient Rights and progress toward these outcomes. Recommendations to the BHG governing board.