The Senior Social worker practices in the specialty outpatient medical setting providing services to Veterans followed by specialty clinics in the West Palm Beach VA Healthcare System, to include Cardiology, Neurology, Gastroenterology, Ophthalmology, and other specialized areas as indicated.

Duties

Duties may include, but are not limited to: The incumbent will screen patients and families for psychological distress and further evaluated, if required, for advocacy, education and case management in solving the concrete everyday needs that may be exacerbated by their chronic medical conditions. The incumbent will conduct psychosocial assessments to determine needs of Veterans and family members. The incumbent will participate in treatment planning with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that treatment plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate. The incumbent will assist patients and their families/caregivers with coping and dealing with the loss and grief experienced in disability, terminal illness and death. The incumbent will provide subject matter consultation/education to Veterans and families on community resources, advance directives and VA benefits. The incumbent will act as a consultant to other team/staff members and have the ability to teach, mentor staff and graduate students in the unit's specialty areas. The incumbent will provide consultation/education to medical residents on social work practice, psychosocial assessments, social interventions and VA policy and procedures. The incumbent will act as liaison between VA and community resources, to include marketing and public relation duties as needed. The incumbent will provide case management to Veterans and families, as needed, throughout the continuum of care. The incumbent will provide a full range of advanced 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. The incumbent will possess advanced knowledge and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment used within. The incumbent will conduct Advance care Planning discussions with Veterans and address Advance Directives and Organ Donation in accordance with the standards of their work area. The incumbent will provide wellness/prevention education and facilitate Patient/family support groups as appropriate. The incumbent will as appropriate, supervise the practice of social work students, and provide consultation to less experienced social worker. The incumbent will participate in committee assignments, as deemed necessary by the service manager. The incumbent will maintain data and statistical compilations to comply with TJC, VA and medical center policy and procedures. The incumbent will have advanced skill in developing and implementing methods for measuring the effectiveness of practice within the programs of the unit, review the outcomes and develop changes as necessary to improve services. 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. 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 and after hours for evening coverage. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM Telework: May be available, as determined by the agency/facility. 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. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 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: In addition to meeting the basic requirements stated above, the following qualifications criteria must be met in determining the appropriate grade assignment of candidates. GS-12 Senior Social Workercandidates must have the following: Experience/Education: The candidate must have at least two (2) years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one (1) year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice. Senior social workers may have certification or other post-masters training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship or equivalent supervised professional experience in a specialty. Licensure/Certification: Senior social workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which included an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they must be able to provide supervision for licensure. While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge's Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics (KSAOs), 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. These are the KSA's for this subject position: Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes. Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area, as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills. Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession, and to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area. References: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard. Preferred Experience: Knowledge of Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSC). Physical Requirements: The physical demands of the work requires use of fingers; moderate walking and standing; near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; far vision correctable in on eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; hearing aid permitted; clear speech; emotional stability; moderate duty.

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 West Palm Beach VA Medical Center 7305 North Military Trail West Palm Beach, FL 33410 US
• Name: Payton Hendrix
• Phone: 813-970-3541
• Email: [email protected]