Heroic social work
There are two flavors of success that a hospice social worker can achieve: the heroic, and the mundane. Heroic successes are when interventions resolve crisis, reunite families, provide patients and families with something that will inspire joy or that helps patients and family members in measurable ways as they work through their struggles.
Mundane social work
The mundane success in hospice social work is far less sensational, but just as important. It is when we take the time to gently and mindfully connect with patients and their family members. It’s when we listen well so that we can understand who people are and what they need and think deeply to more fully understand what they need and what may benefit them. It is when we document all of our work clearly and maintain a reliable, steady and confident presence for the team, facilities and the patients, that we are succeeding with the mundane portion of our job.
Both of these are crucial. The mundane work generates are opportunities to succeed when the time comes to be the psychosocial hero or heroine. When a hero is needed, the best person for the job is one who has become a familiar face and trusted team member to the patient and family and has spent time learning to understanding their needs deeply.
I once succeeded in talking a pair of EMTs who were about to take a patient to the hospital against her family’s wishes into calling their boss and asking him to reconsider his order to them. The event was tense, dramatic and exhausting, and I felt a little high for the rest of the evening. I told my oldest child what happened and this prompted her to tell me, “You’re a great social worker!” I may have even announced to myself or someone else, “And THAT’S why I do what I do.”
Good social workers reduce the need for heroics
But it’s not. Drama is overrated. Good hospice social workers can respond calmly to drama like no other professional, but it is important for us to take pride in our ability to bring reliability and equanimity to all situations. Hospice patients and their family members who require nothing more than the most routine care may feel as if they are in crisis even if the roof is not coming down. By holding space for them, consistently and gently, we make the world a more comfortable place for people who are facing one of the most traumatic changes they’ll face.
Read on as we discuss one of the major problems for hospice social workers: no one knows what they do!