Medical Social Worker Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

This post presents detailed information on the job description of a medical social worker, including the key duties, tasks, and responsibilities they perform.

What Does a Medical Social Worker Do?

A medical social worker works in a hospital with patients and their relations.

The medical social worker job description covers giving support to those needing psychosocial help.

It also involves intervening in the psychosocial functioning of their clients and their families by connecting them to essential support and resources in the community as necessary.

Medical social workers provide grief counseling, psychotherapy, and supportive counseling or help, as well as increase and intensify a patient’s network of social assistance.

The tasks they perform usually see them working with other professionals in disciplines such as recreational therapy, medicine, and nursing.

They play a crucial role that meets client’s needs and enhances the patient’s prompt discharge from the hospital.

They may be responsible for organizing in-home services to correspond with the client’s date of discharge, depending on the arrangement.

The medical social worker also functions as the patient’s advocate.

Patients often make choices that medical professionals may not agree with and so the social worker advocates for the right of the patient to self-determination.

In addition, the social worker’s duties include handling of complicated cases involving patients with financial problems, homelessness, lack of health insurance coverage, substance abuse problems, prolonged unemployment, history of incarceration, etc, all of which will require evaluation and therapy.

These will demand a timely assessment of the psychosocial needs of the patient.

Other things medical social workers do include supervising services for and giving counsel to patients and their relations in a variety of instances.

Also, one of the most important obligations of a social worker in the medical setting is to intervene in crises.

They offer support and guidance when needed, for instance, in the area of grief counseling, trauma, suspected child abuse or victims of crime.

In all these, they will require enormous patience and outstanding skills in giving priority when intervening in cases.

Medical Social Worker Job Description Example/Sample/Template

The following job description example shows important key tasks, duties, and responsibilities medical social workers must do:

• Recognize needs of the patients and care givers
• Offer emotional support, personal assistance, medical attention or other personal care to patients or colleagues
• Supervise care, including intervention, reviews and care plans
• Supervise and ensure discharge from health or care facility to other facilities or the home
• Enable support groups and family members in dealing with and understanding the needs of the patient
• Develop detailed and error-free case notes involving mental health and risk assessments
• Adjust treatment plans in compliance with changes in the status of the patient
• Examine and obtain information from all applicable references
• Establish practical and friendly working relationships with patients and their families over time
• Manage grievances, rectify disputes, and resolve grievances when necessary

Medical Social Worker Job Description for Resume

A resume for the position of social worker at a medical establishment can be created with the above sample job description, especially in making the employment history section of the resume.

Medical Social Worker Requirements: Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities for Career Success

Here are important qualities, skills, knowledge, and abilities the medical social worker is required to have to succeed on the job:

• Masters degree in social work from an authorized and approved program of study
• Outstanding knowledge of medical terms
• A clear and concise understanding of the psychosocial issues relating to health and illness
• Adequate knowledge of community amenities, resources, and facilities for discharge planning
• Deep knowledge of care planning and discharge planning procedures