Social Worker (Inpatient Acute Medicine)

Veterans Health Administration • Nashville, TN

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Social Worker manages, coordinates, and provides social work services to Veterans and their families enrolled at the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS), serving inpatient acute medicine, surgical, and intensive care units. Services include case management, discharge planning, clinical treatment, advocacy, and coordination of referrals and connections to VA or community resources and agencies as needed by Veterans and caregivers.

The position provides social work services within accepted standards of practice, including psychosocial assessment, individual and family counseling, patient education, consultation, care coordination, and support with advance directives. The Social Worker collaborates with interdisciplinary care teams and medical residents, maintains clinical documentation and workload data, and supports Veterans and families coping with disability, terminal illness, death, and grief. The full performance level is GS-11.

Requirements

• Master's degree in social work from a school fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE); a doctoral degree does not substitute for the master's degree.
• State licensure or certification to independently practice social work at the master's degree level.
• For GS-11 appointment, at least one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to GS-9 in health care or another social work-related setting, plus independent-practice-level state licensure or certification; alternatively, a doctoral degree in social work may substitute for the one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting.
• Demonstrate knowledge of community resources and appropriate referrals, and ability to coordinate services.
• Demonstrate skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions with people from diverse socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other backgrounds.
• Demonstrate knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures, including acute, chronic, and traumatic conditions, common medications and their effects or side effects, and medical terminology, to formulate treatment plans.
• Demonstrate skill in independently implementing treatment modalities with individuals, families, and groups experiencing psychiatric, medical, and social problems.
• Demonstrate ability to consult with new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about patients' psychosocial needs and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and treatment compliance.
• Be a U.S. citizen, except where appointment of a non-citizen is permitted under VA policy.
• Be proficient in spoken and written English.
• Meet applicable background/security investigation and onboarding requirements.
• Pass a pre-employment physical evaluation or examination.
• Participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program.
• Complete application requirements detailed in the announcement's Required Documents section.
• Serve a one- or two-year trial period, subject to written certification for continued employment.
• Any education used to qualify must be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and come from an accredited institution; foreign education requires a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency and transcript.
• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must meet Selective Service registration requirements.

Nice To Haves

• A doctoral degree in social work may substitute for the required year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting.
• Applicants covered by the VA Grandfathering Provision may qualify if they are current VHA employees in this occupation and meet the applicable criteria.
• Prior work or military service may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, subject to request and approval; credit is not guaranteed.

Responsibilities

• Conduct psychosocial assessments and high-risk screens to determine the needs of Veterans and family members.
• Participate in treatment planning with other disciplines.
• Participate in discharge planning and ensure plans are executed in a timely and appropriate manner.
• Provide individual and family counseling as appropriate.
• Educate Veterans and families about community resources, advance directives, and VA benefits.
• Consult with other team and staff members.
• Provide consultation and education to medical residents on social work practice and VA policies and procedures.
• Act as a liaison between VA and community resources, including marketing and public relations duties as needed.
• Provide case management to Veterans and families throughout the continuum of care as needed.
• Provide case work, individual, family, and group counseling, discharge planning, case management, and other appropriate social work services.
• Address advance directives in accordance with work-area standards.
• Provide patient education tailored to the Veteran's needs.
• Coordinate treatment and communicate with care lines to facilitate continuity of care.
• Participate in committee assignments as deemed necessary by the service manager.
• Maintain data and statistical compilations to comply with Joint Commission, VA, and medical center policies and procedures.
• Assist patients and significant others in coping with loss and grief related to disability, terminal illness, and death.
• Document social work interventions and activities in patients' clinical records using CPRS, and ensure appropriate handoffs when transferring patient care.
• Maintain workload productivity within nationally accepted parameters of 85% to 135%.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and regular salary increases; a higher step rate may be considered based on higher or unique qualifications or VA needs.
• 37–50 days of annual paid time off per year, including 13–26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, and 11 paid federal holidays.
• Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave after 12 months of employment in connection with a child's birth, adoption, or foster care placement.
• Eligible full-time employees may qualify for a childcare subsidy after 60 days of employment, subject to family-income and other eligibility limits.
• Traditional federal pension with five-year vesting and federal 401(k), with VA contributions of up to 5%.
• Federal health, vision, dental, term life, and long-term care insurance; many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement.
• Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual based on prior work or military service, subject to approval.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior