Clinical Social Worker

Provides clinical psychosocial intervention, including crisis intervention, individual, couples and family counseling, support groups, and short-term bereavement therapy. Coordinates patient care through the continuum, facilitating the achievement of optimal quality outcomes in relation to clinical care and cost-effectiveness. Collaborates with RN Care Coordinators in achieving optimal discharge plan through identification of and intervention on psychosocial barriers. Provides for the coordination of services to patients/families in the Cancer Center. Identifies high-risk psychosocial factors of patients/families that impact health status, coping and adjustment, and helps staff understand the influence of those factors upon the course of medical care. Assumes responsibility for patients with complex psychosocial risk (domestic violence, protective services, frail elderly, disabled, substance abuse, etc.). Assesses adaptation of families to patients' illnesses, provides crisis intervention, short-term therapy as needed, and ensures maximum participation of patients/families in the continuum of care process.

This is a full time-40 hour postion:

1. Performs psychosocial assessment. Demonstrates ability to determine and analyze multiple issues impacting patient's/family's adjustment and formulate appropriate plan for addressing problems and concerns.
2. Provides social work intervention to assist patients/families: Demonstrates ability to form empathic relationships with patients/families who have significant emotional adjustment issues. Demonstrates ability to use self in differential, therapeutic ways to address patient/family concerns, problems, issues to achieve optimal functioning. Maintains working knowledge base of techniques for individual, couples, family and group counseling. Demonstrates ability to address quality of life and end of life issues.
3. Assumes responsibility/leadership as needed: Ability to cover for supervisory personnel as needed. Ability to make reasoned decisions and provide organization and leadership as needed.
4. Assists health care team to integrate psychosocial factors: Ability to analyze significant psychological, physical, emotional, social, economic issues of patients/families and to effectively communicate the relevance of such to other health care providers. Ability to identify, analyze and suggest intervention for difficult patient/family management situations.
5. Helps patients/families understand psychosocial factors/resources: Ability to assess patient/family level of understanding, barriers to learning, and to provide age-specific education as needed.
6. Ensures that patient/family are involved in all phases of the patient care process.
7. Serves as liaison and collaborates with range of community and governmental agencies and resources: Maintains current knowledge of community and governmental resources. Ability to advocate for and obtain access to resources for patients/families. Ability to identify deficits in resources and to advocate for new resources.
8. Demonstrates commitment to continuous improvement by seeking ways of improving care, effectiveness and efficiency within the department and within the organization.
9. Demonstrates flexibility, willingness to innovate, seek new models of care and collaboration.
10. Demonstrates commitment to cultural sensitivity and cultural competence with diverse populations.
11. Documents clinical work. Maintains ability to clearly articulate in writing psychosocial assessments and social work plans of action. Ability to adhere to department standards for timely documentation.
12. Maintains administrative record-keeping, statistical reports: Ability to adhere to department standards for timely reporting of statistics
13. Participates in department meetings and institutional committees: Attends department meetings consistently and promptly. Provides leadership in committee work and meetings [e.g. QI, staff development].
14. Formulates, coordinates, implements psychosocial component of patient/family care: Demonstrates ability to clarify and reach agreement on short and long-term goals with patients/families around psychological, emotional, physical, social, environmental, and economic/financial issues impacting patients' adjustments and recoveries.
15. Initiates and/or participates in interdisciplinary collaboration to implement psychosocial treatment: Ability to initiate and facilitate interdisciplinary meetings to discuss and/or implement psychosocial treatment plan. Skilled in ability to communicate effectively with multidisciplinary team within and outside DF/BWH Cancer Center at South Shore Hospital. Demonstrates understanding of the principles of multi-disciplinary team collaboration and maintains effective working relationships.
16. Maintains responsibility for on-call outside working hours as needed.
17. Participates in interdepartmental / Institute planning regarding program, policy, procedures: Awareness of adherence to DFCI and department policies and procedures. Ability to work effectively to contribute to development and review of department and interdepartmental policies and procedures and regulatory requirements [e.g. mandated reporting, QI program].
18. Teaches and supervises social work staff graduate trainees, volunteers: Ability to transmit knowledge of social work principles in an oncology setting [e.g. transference, countertransference boundaries] and psychosocial issues for patients/families [e.g. anticipatory mourning, adaptive coping skills, life review] to others for the purpose of teaching and supervision.
19. Delivers presentations and seminars to community at large: Organizes and effectively presents [orally or via written materials] psychosocial issues for cancer patients/families. Maintains current knowledge base on social work principles and interventions in an oncology setting.
20. Participates in psychosocial research: Identifies important areas for psychosocial research. Maintains working knowledge of principles of research. Ability to initiate, develop and participate in psychosocial research projects. Ability to prioritize time to ensure participation in research projects.
21. Participates in discharge planning:
22. Provides psychosocial support and psychosocial intervention in ways that contribute to the forward momentum of the discharge plan. Lends expertise in analyzing, assessing and intervening around psychosocial and environmental barriers that interfere with the discharge plan.
23. Demonstrates effective communication with team members responsible for the development and implementation of the discharge plan.
    Maintains confidentiality and complies with professional ethics according to professional, department and organizational standards.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS (Cont.)

Technology and Learning

a.

Participates in continued learning and possess a willingness and ability to learn and utilize new technology and procedures that continue to develop in their role and throughout the organization.

b.

Embraces technological advances that allow us to communicate information effectively and efficiently based on role.

Minimum Education - Preferred

Masters Degree in Social Work from accredited program.
Current Massachusetts license required.

Minimum Work Experience

Previous experience in hospital or healthcare setting.

LCSW or LICSW - Licensed Clinical Social Worker OR Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker

Required additional Knowledge, and Abilities

Bilingual English / Spanish preferred.
Cultural sensitivity and age specific competency required.
Crisis intervention, treatment skills.
Strong clinical assessment/judgment, including interdisciplinary teaming skills.
Excellent communication oral and written.
Strong organizational skills and ability to set priorities; tolerance for ambiguity.
Analytical skills, computer literacy and keyboarding.