Social Worker II - Psychiatry - Addiction Medicine

UIOWA•Iowa City, IA

About The Position

The Department of Psychiatry at Iowa Health Care is seeking a part-time Social Worker II to serve on the Addiction Medicine Consult Service . This position works with an interdisciplinary team of healthcare professional trainees and staff clinicians to assist patients and their primary medical teams in addressing issues related to substance use and how it may be complicating a patient’s health or treatment. The Social Worker II is responsible for obtaining psychosocial histories from patients or their relatives, sharing and interpreting information with appropriate staff, and including written histories or summaries for clinical records. As a Social Worker II, you will coordinate referrals to substance use treatment programs, providing direct service to patients and relatives through psychotherapeutic interventions to facilitate harm reduction and recovery from substance use disorders.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree with a major concentration in social work.
6 months-1 year of clinical social work experience.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

A master’s degree is desirable.
A license to practice social work in Iowa.
Experience working with adult and adolescent patients and their families, providing counseling and crisis intervention.
Experience working with patients who have substance use and/or mental health disorders.
Social work experience in a health care setting with the appropriate patient population and their families.
Experience with identifying and navigating financial resources, including insurance coverage options, changes related to the federal and state health programs, and the disability process.
Experience working with community resources, home healthcare, nursing facilities and other options available for patients in outpatient settings.
Experience in a fast paced, high volume work environment.

Responsibilities

Serve as a social worker on the UI Health Care Addiction Medicine Consult Service, working as part of a multidisciplinary team to implement plan of care for hospitalized patients who use substances or have a substance use disorder, and facilitate treatment and recovery
Obtain psycho-social histories from patient or clients and their relatives, share and interpret information with appropriate staff, and include written histories or summaries for Clinical Records.
Confer with clinical staff to assess the medical, psychological, and social condition and needs of patients and clients.
Provide information to other clinical staff regarding patient, client and family members psycho-social functioning and needs.
Assist in the medical or clinical treatment of the patients and clients.
Provide information regarding other patient and client services.
Arrange for discharge planning for hospital patients including the post hospital care.
Provide direct service to patients and clients and their relatives through the evaluation of social and psychological data and select appropriate social work methods for treatment.
Provide indirect service to patients and clients through participation in program development, teaching and research.
File mental health and substance abuse commitments when appropriate.
Assess for mandatory reporting concerns when needed.
Consult with community social agencies regarding medical-social or other social functioning problems of patients and clients and their family members.
Assist in conducting social group/family sessions for patients and clients or their family members.
Responsible for administrative tasks and functions.
Assist in instruction and supervision of undergraduate students in Social Work, medical and allied specialties.
Write case reports covering social services for inclusion in the patient's or client's clinical records.
Compile statistical records of social service activity.
Attend and participate in training, meetings, conferences, and workshops.
Maintain effective working relationships with faculty, staff, students, and the public.
Identification of unique needs, strengths, and assets in patient assessments.
Create individualized treatment plans: goals that reflect patient/family participation, strategies to support/build on patient strengths, assets and goals, strategies that will help patient and all staff minimize the use of coercive interventions.
Involves family/support system in care to the extent possible by encouraging visitation, allowing participation in assessment, treatment planning, education, and discharge planning, communicating an understanding of the impact of mental illness on families, therapeutic approaches to explore and possibly reduce patient reluctance to involve family/support system.
Characterizes interactions with others in all work settings by respectful, person-centered language, recovery-enhancing relationships with patients, conversations that communicate an understanding of the impact of stigma, discrimination and social isolation, and attempts to reduce it.