The Social Worker is assigned to the Emergency Department and is responsible for providing direct services to adults, geriatrics, and families who present for services. The Social Worker conducts work activity independently using their educational training, clinical experience, VA policies, and JCAHO standards in administering direct services that include psychosocial assessment of patient/family needs related to the provision of interdisciplinary treatment planning and service delivery.

Duties

As a member of the Interdisciplinary Treatment Team in the Emergency Department, the Social Worker conducts work activity independently using his/her educational training, clinical experience, VA policies, and JCAHO standards in administering direct services: psychosocial assessment of patient/family needs in relation to the provision of interdisciplinary treatment planning and service delivery; individual, group, and family counseling and casework services for the purpose of addressing identified needs. The Social Worker will collaborate with the other members of the Emergency Department team, in the provision of comprehensive health care services to veterans, will ensure equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, and collect, develop and analyze data from this program, using appropriate clinical indicators and monitoring activities to assure that the care provided is of the highest quality. The Social Worker will also complete periodic program planning evaluations and reviews and will recommend and implement new programs and/or modifications/expansion of existing programs, as indicated. The Social Worker will conduct training for staff, students and community providers regarding Emergency Department issues, will provide education, information and liaison with resources for veterans in the community, and will provide technical assistance and educational sessions to community organizations as needed. This worker is responsible for the implementation of written treatment program policies and procedures developed by Social Work Service that are based on coherent empirical and theoretical rationale and are consistent with patient rights, and the maintenance of comprehensive written patient progress notes, outcomes and discharge planning services in collaboration with the unit treatment team. The incumbent is responsible for completing the following duties/responsibilities: a. The incumbent will conduct psychosocial assessments to determine needs of veterans and family members. b. The incumbent is an active participant in the treatment planning process with other disciplines. c. The incumbent will participate in discharge planning with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate. d. The incumbent will provide individual, family and group counseling as appropriate. e. The incumbent will provide consultation/education to veterans and families on community resources, advance directives and VA benefits. f. The incumbent will act as a consultant to other team/staff members. g. The incumbent will provide consultation/education to medical residents on social work practice and VA policy and procedure. h. The incumbent will act as liaison between VA and community resources, to include marketing and public relation duties as needed. i. The incumbent will provide case management to veterans and families, as needed, throughout the continuum of care. j. The incumbent will provide a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice which includes case work, individual, family and group counseling, discharge planning, case management and other services as appropriate. k. The incumbent will address Advance Directives and Organ Donation in accordance with the standards of their work area. l. The incumbent will provide wellness/prevention education and facilitate Patient/family support groups as appropriate. m. The incumbent will as appropriate, supervise the practice of social work students, or a less experienced social worker. n. The incumbent will coordinate treatment and communicate with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for veterans. o. The incumbent will participate in committee assignments, as deemed necessary by the service manager. p. The incumbent will maintain data and statistical compilations to comply with JCAHO, VA and medical center policy and procedures. q. The incumbent will assist patients and their significant others with coping and dealing with the loss and grief experiences in disability, terminal illness and death. r. The incumbent will document social work interventions and activities in patient's clinical record utilizing CPRS and ensure appropriate hand off when transferring of patient care. s. The incumbent will participate in a rotation of on-call social workers, including modification of tour of duty to accommodate patient care needs on weekends. t. The incumbent will assist the medical-surgical units with discharges and completing SW initial notes and SW notes within 72 hours. u. The incumbent may be asked to complete a home visit when deemed necessary. Other duties as assigned Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education: Have a master's degree in social work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until the School of Social Work is fully accredited. A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree in social work. Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work. Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. Loss of Licensure or Certification. Once licensed or certified, social workers must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. ? 7403(f). May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Creditable Experience. The candidate must have knowledge of current professional social work practices. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics associated with current professional social work practice. The experience or education must be post-Masters of Social Work (MSW) degree. Experience and education satisfying this requirement must be active professional practice, which is paid/non-paid employment as a professional social worker, as defined by the appropriate state licensing board. Quality of Experience. Experience is only creditable if it is obtained following graduation with a master's degree in social work and if it includes work as a professional social worker directly related to the position to be filled. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to social work experience at the next lower level. Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time work week. For example, one week of full-time credit is equivalent to two weeks of part-time work. Fellowships or Post-Graduate Training. Fellowship and post-graduate training programs are typically in a specialized area of clinical practice, i.e., group or family practice. Training as a fellow or post-graduate may be substituted for creditable experience on a year-for-year basis. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Social Worker, GS-11 Experience and Licensure Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level. OR Education. In addition to meeting basic requirements, a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services. (b) Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds. (c) Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan. (d) Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals. (e) Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment. Preferred Experience: Emergency Department Experience References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39 September 10, 2019 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11 which is the actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Bronx VA Medical Center 130 West Kingsbridge Rd. Bronx, NY 10468 US
• Name: Kelli Bencic
• Phone: 716-458-6982
• Email: [email protected]