Mom's work week (2/2022)

It can be difficult to describe exactly what I do at work - to the general public who believe that social workers remove kids from home or magically qualify people for Medicaid, to clients who can sometimes be thankless, and to my coworkers who often misidentify social work as a catch-all position. I scribbled some notes about this past workweek as a sampling:

- advocated for a pt whose bill had gone to collections in order to reinitiate eligibility for financial assistance and services

- provided crisis intervention for domestic violence 

- identified lack of caregiving and supervision and initiated APS referral

- formal evaluation of multidimensional wellness and barriers for RDP pt
- offered consulting for physiatrist regarding work comp case law and treatment coordination 

- attend treatment team meetings to review care, id progress, and needs
- conducted post-COVID specialty team meeting and assigned follow up on agenda items
- initiated monthly consultation with clinic supervisor to address specialty committees agenda items
- assessed NP and CPS needs with intake of pediatric pt with accidental gunshot wound
- conducted weekly wellness group according to self-directed curriculum

- created agenda for specialty team meeting

- helped team identify counter-transference as a barrier to pt help-seeking

- attended client access systems specialty team meeting and identified need for monitoring Medicare copay collections 

- facilitated collaboration among internal and various external providers/ stakeholders for all work comp cases.
- consulted regarding action needed with suicidal threat made during therapy session

- researched who a donor was likely wanting to recognize with unnamed award for foundation
- assisted pt with negotiating return to work with employer

- notified pt of team recommend for NP and coordinate with NP for provider assignment
- coordinated fund eligibility for pt who needed help paying utilities
- triaged voicemails that come to my desk because SW will solve it
- informed pt of discharge according to noncompliance with attendance policy
- reminded staff of need to schedule pt for weekly counseling due to food aversion
- referred pt to legal counsel when asking for advice on Medicaid  trust fund rules
- provided referral for post Covid support group info
- provided referral for rehab snfs in area for a coworker
- coordinated HH referral for failed referral

- encouraged leniency re: COVID visitor policy for adol best interests
- helped team determine appropriateness of fund use for doctor shopping pt

- informed of educational opportunity for specialty team
- provided referral for neuro-optometrist with internal noncoverage
- informed doc of progress ahead of appt

By way of asserting my value-add, I believe that things run smoother when I'm around to organize teams and facilitate difficult conversations. The team usually wants me around when tears start flowing and they're typically very curious to get my unique perspective. I feel I'm great at facilitating pt disclosure, assessing nuances and potential barriers, and strategizing according to realistic expectations.  And I am always happy to offer novel ideas for what sometimes feels like an archaic system.