The Renal Social Worker is part of a interdisciplinary team which provides care for patients diagnosed with chronic and end stage renal disease. The renal social worker must exhibit a high level of focused knowledge and skill related to the assessment and treatment of complicated CKD and end stage renal patients, providing the psychosocial support for patients with these chronic diseases.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Knowledge/skills: - Possesses a working knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures, including acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses, substance abuse disorders, bereavement, common medications, and general medical terminology. - Possesses a high level of skill and expertise to establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships with, and in assessing and treating the complicated psychosocial problems of, veterans and their families/significant others. Daily functions: - Actively participates as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team through collaboration with veterans and family as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the patient's problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills and assistance needed. - Accepts referrals originating from any member of the interdisciplinary team, from Veterans and/or their families who call or walk-in for assistance, and from community professionals. - Conducts thorough assessments to determine psychosocial problems that often impact the health condition and creating barriers to care needs of veterans and family members, the underlying causes of the presenting problem, the interpersonal and environmental factors impacting the problem, and its effect on the patient's ability and desire to comply with the treatment recommendations by the multidisciplinary team. These stressors can include adjustment to the chronic medical condition, untreated or under-treated mental health, economic instability, legal problems, and inadequate housing and transportation. - Provides advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of renal patients, while collaborating with the interdisciplinary team and coordinates a collaborative effort to meet the goals of care. This includes but is not limited to facilitating action for community dialysis consults, transportation to and from dialysis treatment, transplant social work assessments, serves as a liaison for community dialysis centers, participates in the annual plan of care, annual psychosocial assessments, and collaborates with VA renal nurses and providers to address identified problems. - Coordination and management community care peritoneal dialysis patients. - Coordination and management community care hemodialysis patients. - Coordination and management community care renal transplant patients. - Conducts a monthly administrative review of active dialysis patients, community dialysis patients, acute on chronic dialysis patients, LTACH patients receiving dialysis within the care facility, and provides monthly updates to the dialysis interdisciplinary team. - Attends required meetings including renal HRO huddles, UBCs, department meetings, and annual plan of care meetings. - The renal social worker collaborates with the renal care coordinators, dietician, vascular access coordinator, transplant coordinator to provide education to end stage renal patients preparing to initiate dialysis treatments. - The renal social worker completes Medicare documentation, - collaboration with veterans and their families as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to ensure that appropriate community placements are completed in a timely manner. - Serves as a liaison between veterans and/or their families and VA and community resources in order to ensure thorough delivery of services. - Provides consultation and education to veterans and their families regarding community resources, VA benefits and specialty programs, and advance directives. This includes the incumbent's knowledge of the process for accessing and/or coordinating community-based services, including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs, other government programs, and community programs. - Possesses a thorough knowledge of community agencies that are covered by Medicare, Medi-Cal, and VA pay to ensure veterans receive the services they need with the least amount of financial burden. - Helps the patient and family to understand the contributing factors to the problem(s) and discusses with them the pros and cons of possible short-term and long-term solutions, encouraging them to make positive and lasting changes to reduce stressors. - Assists patients and their significant others with coping and dealing with the loss and grief experiences in disability, chronic illness, and death. Preferred Experience - Renal Social Work Experience Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Title/Functional Statement #:Specialty Care Social Worker-Nephrology/PD000000 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/. 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 Determinations: GS-11 Grade Level Requirements 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II Appendix G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11 . Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to perform the work. There will be walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; or driving an automobile sometimes for 1 hour in duration to see rural patients. No special physical demands are required to perform this work.

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 Kansas City VA Medical Center 4801 Linwood Boulevard Kansas City, MO 64128 US
• Name: Kassie Ingram
• Phone: 816-861-4700 X53838
• Email: [email protected]