Position serves as the social worker assigned to a VA National Transplant Center. The focus of services is heart, liver, kidney and stem cell transplantation. Stem cell and kidney donors are also provided services.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Duties: Psychosocial Assessment The advanced practice transplant social worker uses in-depth interviewing techniques to gather biopsychosocial information used in the assessment and treatment of veterans, living donors, and their families. Psychosocial Diagnoses The advanced practice transplant social worker uses professional judgment and specialized practice skills to identify at-risk factors such as: psychiatric conditions, catastrophic medical conditions, cognitive impairments, or other high-risk diagnoses. Based upon the psychosocial diagnoses, the incumbent makes professional decisions and recommendations regarding the care and treatment of the veteran. Effective Treatment Planning/Goal Setting The advanced practice transplant social worker develops psychosocial treatment plans and goals in coordination with the interdisciplinary and transplant teams, participates in the assignment of veterans to treatment teams and programs, and consults with other specialists in treatment planning. In treatment planning, consideration is given to the patient's likelihood to accept assistance, self-care capability, social support, health care needs, physical limitations, cognitive deficits, and consequences of treatment. Works with the veteran and/or family to plan appropriate treatment, set achievable treatment goals, and establish a plan for the reevaluation of treatment goals. Identifies available resources, VA and non VA, which may facilitate treatment and assist the patient in goal attainment. Makes decisions for appropriate action based on advanced practice skills, professional judgment, and expertise, even when these decisions can seriously impact the life of the veteran, including recommending to the transplant team that the patient be denied for transplantation based upon psychosocial contraindications. Implementation of Treatment Provides clinical social work services to veterans, donors, and family members/significant others in support of the veteran's treatment, including counseling, guidance, emotional support, and other assistance. Provides individual and group counseling, including psychotherapy in some settings, to assist patients' in facing problems, thinking them through, evaluating the situation realistically, considering alternative courses of action, and arriving at plans for using resources and existing coping skills to resolve problems. Organizes community services on behalf of beneficiaries, developing and coordinating procedures for use of these services by related staff. Evaluation, Education, Supervision, Coaching, and Mentoring Establishes a continuing relationship with the veteran, extending into the post-transplant period, evaluating progress towards goals and adjusting the treatment plan as appropriate. Monitors veteran's progress, maintains comprehensive documentation, ensures expert diagnosis and treatment of clinical disorders, and shows competent discretion in decision to adjust treatment. Makes recommendations for care and changes to interdisciplinary treatment plan. Documents independently in the medical records utilizing paper and/or electronic formats, including psychosocial assessments, diagnostics, treatment, progress notes, follow-up, and referrals. Provides case management services to veterans at high social or medical risk, serving as the liaison to other treatment programs and also represents the VA and the VA National Transplant Program in contacts with other agencies and the public. Provides training to students, residents, interns, and fellows from many disciplines and instructs them on different aspects of psychosocial treatment and the services provided by social workers such as understanding family dynamics and the impact of psychosocial issues and problems on the veteran's health and response to treatment. Provides veterans, donors, and caregivers ongoing supportive counseling to manage the psychosocial impact of chronic, disabling, catastrophic, or sudden illness. Work Schedule: 8:00am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 70875-F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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: GS-12 Experience/Education: Senior Social Workers must have at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one 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: 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. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): 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. Assignments: For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site; a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center, or a national VHA referral center, such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center, or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity. The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics. The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff. They serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Applicants must be physically and mentally able to efficiently perform the essential functions of the position without hazard to themselves or others.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Tennessee Valley HCS - Nashville 1310 24th Avenue South Nashville, TN 37212 US
• Name: Matthew Kale
• Phone: 828-318-7817
• Email: [email protected]