According to ONET, social workers within the field of healthcare provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychological support they need to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illness. Some services within the field of work include advising family caregivers, providing patient with education and counseling, and making referrals for other services. One needs a lot of personal training and educational knowledge to become professional in this particular career. As such, the occupation of social work branches out to many different types of social services, and people who have an interest in this career needs a brief understanding on how healthcare social workers play an important role in the field of …show more content…
Healthcare social workers may visit hospitals and nursing home once or twice throughout a week to help people make the transition from the hospital back to their home and communities. Some healthcare social workers specialize in geriatric social work or medical care social work. Also according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook and the United States Department of Labor, geriatric social workers usually take one or two days away from their office to visit and help senior citizens and their families. Geriatric social workers "help clients find services, such as programs like nursing homes, that provides older adults with meals or with home healthcare," (Bureau of Labor Statistics 1). Medical social workers sometimes work in hospitals by helping patients and their families find resources for treatment in the hospital and in their community. Healthcare social workers "may also work full time with medical staff to create discharge plans, make referrals to community agencies, facilitate support groups, or conduct [follow-up] visits with patients," (Occupational Outlook Handbook 205). Even though most people within society believe or think that social workers generally work full time in an office, they sometimes work evenings, weekends, and holidays seeing clients at their homes or attending meetings that