Documentation In Social Work Essay
Documentation in social work
The relevance of documentation in the field of social work has evolved over time and the social workers are increasingly becoming aware of its application. During the old days in social work, documentation was seen only as a mechanism to facilitate theory building and research. It was later followed by the detailed and complex documentation standards for clinical therapy and other settings. Currently, the social workers adopt documentation for risk management purposes to protect themselves and the clients in case ethics complaint arise.
At times, documentation might be overwhelming for the social worker due to time limits and burnouts, but no matter the situation, documentation is as essential as the profession itself. The documentation skills are very crucial for the social worker because they help him or her to decide what needs to be documented so that provision of safe and effective services can be enhanced. …show more content…
For example, if a social worker deals with numerous clients, documentation skills will enable him/her to maintain perfect track of all records with each client. It becomes easy to retrieve and refer to in case of any anticipated circumstance (Savaya, 2010). Excellent documentation skills also enable the social worker to follow up with clients and determine how the counselling session has helped them since the beginning of the session. If a client returns for the same service some months in future, it would still be easy to deal with the client because as a social worker you can refresh your memory from the documentation kept.
Poor documentation fails to convey the problem faced by the client and the channel used to address the problem. It also inhibits the clear presentation of the client’s story. For instance, if the social worker is dealing with a drug addict client, he/ she will need to document how the problem started and for how long it has been affecting the client with what consequences. If the social worker documents the wrong cause of addiction, it might become hard to continue helping the client because obviously will provide the wrong therapy to the client.
Poor documentation can also cause detrimental effects on the social work agency while it may be seen as a minor issue to the outsiders. Social work standards set by the NASW sensitizes the social workers that clients have the right to provide input in terms of the information documented by the social worker about him or her (Juliann, 2006). For example, you might be dealing with clients that have extramarital relations and they don't want this to be documented. If the social worker goes ahead to document, the client might file lawsuits against the agency for failure to respect his/her privacy.
One strategy to address improper documentation is by having a consultation with the agency.
When the social worker is not sure of what to document, he/she should consult with the agency supervisor or the available trusted professionals. The social worker should not put anything on record that he/she should not want the client to see. In all activities of social work setting, clients have the right to access their records. Also, it's the role of the social worker to determine how to establish what is important and in an open and clear way.
Conclusion
Proper documentation is essential in social work to ensure that all activities are recorded and in case of occurrence of a risk event, the evidence is readily available to proof or disproof the case. It is also significance for the social workers to keep the records of the client to determine the rate of recovery. To eliminate the tedious process of recording to save on time and enhance efficiency, the social worker can adopt the modern technology to save clients records.
References
Savaya, R. (2010). Enhancing student awareness of the importance of full and accurate documentation in social work practice. Social Work Education, 29(6), 660–669. doi:10.1080/02615470903552006
Juliann Schaeffer (2006). Poor Documentation: Why it happens and How to Fix It. retrieved from http://www.fortherecordmag.com/archives/0516p12.shtml
The relevance of documentation in the field of social work has evolved over time and the social workers are increasingly becoming aware of its application. During the old days in social work, documentation was seen only as a mechanism to facilitate theory building and research. It was later followed by the detailed and complex documentation standards for clinical therapy and other settings. Currently, the social workers adopt documentation for risk management purposes to protect themselves and the clients in case ethics complaint arise.
At times, documentation might be overwhelming for the social worker due to time limits and burnouts, but no matter the situation, documentation is as essential as the profession itself. The documentation skills are very crucial for the social worker because they help him or her to decide what needs to be documented so that provision of safe and effective services can be enhanced. …show more content…
For example, if a social worker deals with numerous clients, documentation skills will enable him/her to maintain perfect track of all records with each client. It becomes easy to retrieve and refer to in case of any anticipated circumstance (Savaya, 2010). Excellent documentation skills also enable the social worker to follow up with clients and determine how the counselling session has helped them since the beginning of the session. If a client returns for the same service some months in future, it would still be easy to deal with the client because as a social worker you can refresh your memory from the documentation kept.
Poor documentation fails to convey the problem faced by the client and the channel used to address the problem. It also inhibits the clear presentation of the client’s story. For instance, if the social worker is dealing with a drug addict client, he/ she will need to document how the problem started and for how long it has been affecting the client with what consequences. If the social worker documents the wrong cause of addiction, it might become hard to continue helping the client because obviously will provide the wrong therapy to the client.
Poor documentation can also cause detrimental effects on the social work agency while it may be seen as a minor issue to the outsiders. Social work standards set by the NASW sensitizes the social workers that clients have the right to provide input in terms of the information documented by the social worker about him or her (Juliann, 2006). For example, you might be dealing with clients that have extramarital relations and they don't want this to be documented. If the social worker goes ahead to document, the client might file lawsuits against the agency for failure to respect his/her privacy.
One strategy to address improper documentation is by having a consultation with the agency.
When the social worker is not sure of what to document, he/she should consult with the agency supervisor or the available trusted professionals. The social worker should not put anything on record that he/she should not want the client to see. In all activities of social work setting, clients have the right to access their records. Also, it's the role of the social worker to determine how to establish what is important and in an open and clear way.
Conclusion
Proper documentation is essential in social work to ensure that all activities are recorded and in case of occurrence of a risk event, the evidence is readily available to proof or disproof the case. It is also significance for the social workers to keep the records of the client to determine the rate of recovery. To eliminate the tedious process of recording to save on time and enhance efficiency, the social worker can adopt the modern technology to save clients records.
References
Savaya, R. (2010). Enhancing student awareness of the importance of full and accurate documentation in social work practice. Social Work Education, 29(6), 660–669. doi:10.1080/02615470903552006
Juliann Schaeffer (2006). Poor Documentation: Why it happens and How to Fix It. retrieved from http://www.fortherecordmag.com/archives/0516p12.shtml