Licensed Social Worker - Outpatient

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

1. Demonstrates service excellence and patient and family centered care by showing respect, honesty, fairness and a positive attitude toward all customers.

2. Maintains confidentiality.

3. Demonstrates dependability, to include attendance and punctuality.

4. Is accountable - takes initiative and ownership of issues.

5. Displays a professional demeanor. Represents hospital in a positive way. Has a compassionate working relationship with patients and families.

6. Assumes personal responsibility for 2-way communication. Communicates and listens effectively with patients, families, coworkers, other departments, physicians/providers and community.

7. Supports coworkers, initiatives and a patient and family centered philosophy; pitches in; does own part and helps others.

8. Works to continuously improve work environment/processes (Performance Improvement). Demonstrates a patient and family centered focus when considering/developing improvement solutions.

9. Represents willingness/enthusiasm to create, embrace and facilitate change.

10. Develops self and others; supports a learning environment; leads by example. Encourages patients and families to give feedback and suggestions for improvement.

11. Develops working relationships critical to the organization including patients, families, coworkers, other departments, physicians/providers and community.

12. Encourages others by providing recognition and support.

13. Thinks critically; utilizes sound judgment; promptly reports potential risks.

14. Maintains state of art knowledge of area of specialty, healthcare trends and practice, and populations served.

15. Maintains a level of computer literacy appropriate to their role.

16. Meets and maintains current all unit specific and organizational skills/competencies, certifications/licensures, as required.

17. Completes hospital-required reviews, e.g. HIPAA, safety, health screening,

care concerns, and others as assigned.

6. Adheres to National Patient Safety Goals.

Job Specifics:

1. Clinical knowledge and skills remain current to meet the needs of all age groups served. Demonstrates understanding of age-appropriate behavior and psychosocial development for children through older adults.

2. Communicates plan of care based on assessment of patients and family; keeps appropriate people aware of pertinent changes or problems in a timely manner.

3. Participates productively in treatment team meetings and ensures attendance on a regular basis.

4. Consistently attends and participates in staff meetings at least 50% and other committee meetings.

5. Achieves minimum thresholds for productivity on a consistent basis.

6. Effectively performs intake assessments as scheduled and documents appropriately. Is flexible and responsive in rearranging schedule to accommodate emergent cases.

7. Ensures that admission assessments for clients contain the following documented components: Background information, current mental status, treatment recommendations, discharge planning needs, target problems for treatment, expected patient outcomes.

8. Appropriately utilizes standardized tools and scales to assess and reassess patient functioning. Uses the appropriate tool for the age/population of the patient being assessed (e.g., adolescent and geriatric depression scales, GAF, etc.)

9. Assumes appropriate responsibility and accountability for the development, review and revision of the plan of care for outpatients: completes within two visits.

10. Expected outcomes/target objectives and interventions measurable and are developed with recognition given to expected age-related variations in the baseline psychosocial and developmental functional capacity of the individual (child to older adult).

11. Incorporates patient/family teaching into plan of treatment; including patient identified target symptoms with severity ratings.

12. Documents discharge plan, revisions to the Plan of Care, and final discharge instructions and linkages community services, as per current policy.

13. Meets required thresholds for chart review and documentation.

14. Utilizes therapeutic communication skills with patients and family.

15. Accurately assesses interventions made and reassesses data to plan further interventions throughout the therapeutic process in a responsive and timely manner, in order to meet patient needs and third party payer requirements.

16. Effectively implements the treatment modalities appropriate to age/population served.

17. Plans for education needs of students assigned for supervision of internship, and assumes responsibility for communication with hospital staff regarding the student's plan of internship.

18. Responds appropriately to emergencies.

19. Demonstrates accountability in maintaining a minimum of one-hour face-to-face clinical supervision, and one-hour peer supervision, per week with an LCSW, or designated licensed professional.

20. Demonstrates accountability for completing clinical supervision assignments as required.

The following requirements are expected of all employees:

Annual Health Screening with Infection Control and Blood Borne Pathogens Education

Safety Awareness: Hospital Fire, Safety, and Disaster Procedures

Confidentiality: Maintains Employee and Patient Confidentiality.

Attendance: Regular attendance is an essential function of the position

Job Performance: Results Orientation, Customer Focus, Decision Making, Awareness

Interpersonal Skills: Communication, Relationship-building, Team Player, Celebration

Innovation: Breakthrough Thinking, Knowledge-Building/Sharing, Coaching/Empowering, System Vision & Management

Mental Demands - Possesses good general mental health; ability to be assertive and exercise good sound judgment; ability to speak, read, and write the English language; ability to communicate effectively in both written and verbal from; ability to work under pressure while establishing priorities.

Reporting Structure:

A. Formal Reporting and Chain of Command - Clinical Manager of Outpatient Behavioral Health Services or delegated supervisor.

B. Informal Reporting and Relationships - Establishes and maintains harmonious, productive relationships with all levels of mental health personnel, other hospital personnel, physicians, patients, patients families, and the general public.