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Job Title: Medical Social Worker?Renal Social Worker
Education: B.S. in Sociology, College of William and Mary, Williansburg VA •• Master in Social Work (MSW), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC •• Extra credits, University of Colorado, Boulder Colorado •• ACSW
Previous Experience: Retired in 2004 from Gambro Health Care where I was a renal Social Worker. My home clinic was in Columbia Tenn for 14 years. Pediatric Social Worker at University of Kentucky Medical Center Social Work Director at National Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC Worked at the Florence Crittenton Home and at Childrens Home Society of Virginia. I worked with unwed mothers, foster care placements and I did evaluations of prospective adoptive parents terminating in the adoption of infants and supervision for the first year of placement.
Job Tasks: I retired from my last position after 14 years as a Renal Social Worker. Columbia, TN remained my home clinic, but I covered one to five clinics, depending mostly on the number of patients.
I helped write the Social Work Manual for my employer, served as a mentor for our district, and supervised social workers who did not yet have a Master's Degree.
I did all the initial psychosocial evaluations, and periodic reviews to determine each patient's strengths and weaknesses and modality of treatment (hemo, PD, kidney and pancreas) and transplant status. I made referrals when indicated, but if possible, I tried to find resources for patients so that they could retain their optimal lifestyle. Sometimes I organized social events like the Christmas parties and summer picnics.
I worked as part of a team with the nephrologist (kidney specialist), head nurse in hemotology, head nurse in OD and the renal dietition. The whole team was involved wiith providing educational information so that the patients could take an active part in maintaining optimal good health.
I worked on insurance issues, and made the arrangements for incoming and outgoing transient treatments. I did the social evaluations for kidney transplants and worked with Dr. Stanley Lee on this book about ethics. I made referrals to Vocational Rehabilitation and this often included much encouragement to make and keep that first appointment.
One of our patients was the first in his family to go to college, and he stuck with it and earned a degree. Another of our patients took the dialysis cruise ship, as arranged by me. I loved my job.
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