West Palm Beach VA Medical Center is looking for Social Worker (Acute Medicine Continuity of Care). The Acute Medicine Social Worker will provide services in accordance with their Scope of Practice. The Social Worker employs a complete range of social work methods, individually or with groups.

Duties

The Acute Medicine Social Worker is responsible for planning, developing, and implementing Social Work duties to patients and their families relating to the personal and psychosocial implications of hospitalization, medical treatment, post-hospital care, rehabilitation, as well as problems of aging and chronic disability. Services range from routine to extremely complicated, with the more complicated cases involving depression, death/dying, hospice care, complex advance directive decisions, and major adjustment to chronic, debilitating illness both medical and psychiatric in nature. The Acute Medicine Social Worker GS-9 is the entry level grade for this position with less than one year of Post-Master Social Work experience. They are working towards completion of prerequisites for licensure or certification. The Acute Medicine Social Worker GS-11 is full performance level for this position which requires completion of a minimum of one year of Post-Master Social Work experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level. Addition duties include but not limited to: Preparing psychosocial assessments on patients assigned and referred to the social worker in the program according to Medical Center and Service level policies. Providing services to patients and their families relating to the personal and psychosocial implications of medical and psychiatric disabilities and treatment, post-hospital care, and rehabilitations. Assessing the social components of medical and psychiatric problems and or impairments to assist with diagnosis, treatment and discharge planning. Alleviating personal psychosocial problems which interfere with the course of medical or psychiatric treatment or with rehabilitation plans. Providing counseling and/or psychotherapy to Veterans and/or families as indicated. Interpreting the respective responsibilities of the VA treatment team and those of family and community for post-hospital care and rehabilitation. Referring patients and their families to the appropriate VA and community resources. Providing access (information) to VA and community and spiritual services. Providing social work treatment planning, individual casework and therapy, group work and therapy, family counseling and fostering patient rights, discharge planning and coordination, resource brokering, information and referral assistance, program planning, quality assessment and improvement, patient advocacy, information and referral assistance, and patient and family education. Document all social work treatment episodes in the patient's medical record. Will provide casework to Veterans and their families to alleviate emotional/social problems, which interfere with the course of medical treatment. Provides on-going orientation, education and interventions regarding psychosocial implications of illness/disability to Veterans, families and interdisciplinary team staff. Shall assess Veterans and their families to determine the appropriate care needed to maintain maximum independence based upon the needs for continuum of care. Requires excellent assessment, discharge planning, and patient/family intervention skills and knowledge of geriatrics and chronic illness. Must be able to develop psychosocial assessments and histories, provide supportive counseling and provide guidance to patients/families regarding available resources to meet their needs. Performs case finding functions and outreach, identifying and screening patients for psychosocial needs. Conducts psychosocial assessments and develops treatment plans in collaboration with the Veteran/family and with the interdisciplinary treatment team. Coordinates community-based services, including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs, other government programs and community agency programs. Identifies high-risk patients and provides case management services. Provides crisis intervention services, seeking to address the cause as well as the presenting complaint, coordinates family conferences and serves as liaison to family members. Establishes and maintains effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans and their families. Work with patients and families who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical and social problems utilizing individual, group and family counseling and therapy skills. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, with rotating tours of duty as needed and weekends. Telework: No Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: Social Worker (Acute Medicine Continuity of Care) Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be authorized for highly qualified candidates upon review and approval by management. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational, or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. 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/. Exception. VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations. This exception only applies at the GS-9 grade level. For the GS-11 grade level and above, the candidate must be licensed or certified. VHA social workers who are not licensed or certified at the time of appointment must become licensed or certified at the independent, master's level within three years of their appointment as a Social Worker. 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). Grade Requirements GS-9 (1) Experience, Education, and Licensure. None beyond the basic requirements. While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities, (KSA's), you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position. Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training. Otherwise, we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim. The GS-9 KSA's for this subject position are; (2) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills. (b) Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed. (c) Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals. This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques. (d) Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies. (e) Fundamental knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures. This includes acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries; common medications and their effects/side effects; and medical terminology. GS-11 (1) 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 2) 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. While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities, (KSA's), you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position. Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training. Otherwise, we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim. The GS-11 KSA's for this subject position are; (3) 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G-39. Social Work Qualification Standard GS-185, Veterans Health Administration. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-9 to GS-11. Physical Requirements: To meet the physical demands of the position, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. They must have good manual dexterity. Must be able to express or exchange ideas by means of spoken and written word. Must be able to view and read information computer screens. Must be able to exercise extreme control over one's own emotions especially in highly charged and/or crisis situations. The work takes place in the outpatient clinic environment and exposes the incumbent to the typical diseases and conditions associated with a health care setting.

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.

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 West Palm Beach VA Medical Center 7305 North Military Trail West Palm Beach, FL 33410 US
• Name: Kathryn Miller
• Phone: 407-793-6273
• Email: [email protected]