The previous post revealed what you can do ahead of time to facilitate your professional entrance into hospice. Now let’s go into discuss what amount of how to do hospice social social work you want to learn before your interview.
Do you future boss a favor and let her know that she has nothing to worry about: you will start your position already knowing the minimum necessary to keep compliant with regulations. Even though you have not yet worked in hospice, you know the deal with the:
- 5-day psychosocial assessments
- community resource referrals
- DNRs
- funeral home arrangements
- respite stays
All of these topics will be discussed in detail later, but here is some basic information that will help you during your interview:
5-day psychosocial assessments
Psychosocial assessments need to be completed within five calendar days of a patient’s admission. If the patient is admitted Monday, the initial assessment is due Friday. If the patient is admitted Thursday, it’s due Monday. This involves seeing the patient and speaking with someone who can describe the patient’s well-being and history, if she can’t for herself. This is a pretty absolute requirement. The only times I did not complete an initial assessment on time were when a patient or family member requested to meet later instead. (Remember to document such communication.) This is the first thing to know about how to hospice social work.
Community resources
Making referrals to helpful community resources is not rocket science. Most of your resource provider list will develop as you go, but it’s a good idea to gain some familiarity with local resources before your interview.
Do some internet research, or better yet, meet some local hospice social workers vicinity and ask them what resources they call most frequently. When you go into your interview, it is enough to know who to call for:
- free meal delivery
- transportation service for individuals who are disabled
- pet therapy programs
- nonprofits help with medically necessitated home alterations
- advocacy programs for individuals with military history use for disabilities
Funeral home arrangements
Facilitating funeral home arrangements is your job as a social worker. If a patient doesn’t have a funeral home chosen, gently offer to help choose one (and document this conversation). If anyone on your team has a question about why a funeral home is not chosen yet, your notes will have the answer. A later chapter will discuss how to accomplish this ethically and compassionately. For the sake of getting the job, just know that this is something you’ll become good at.
How to do hospice social work: do not resuscitate orders
Be ready, willing and able to educate any patient or family member about why a DNR is important to consider. Learn about the laws surrounding DNRs in your state and the procedures for filling one out. If you live in Texas, for example, DNRs need to be signed by either the patient or a proxy, and a doctor, and either two witnesses or a notary. And everyone who signs must sign in their own section and at the section on the bottom
Coordinate respite stays
A respite stay is when hospice pays for a patient to receive 5 consecutive days of care in a nursing home. This is a standard intervention when family members need a break from caring for patients at home. As the social worker, your team will expect you to play a specific part in respite planning, or to coordinate the entire project. In a future post, I’ll outline a method for facilitating seamless respite planning that makes everyone happy.
Get familiar
A good idea may be to read the above bullet points several times and do additional reading on how to do hospice social work. If you have hospice friends, ask them about how social workers in their agencies seem to relate to these topics. I am already tossing together some in-depth posts on these topics that I will publish in the future. For now, let’s shift gears and look at approaches to setting up for success in a new hospice job before even seeing patients.
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