Nursing Home Social Workers - Are They Really Qualified?
Most people view nursing homes as a place to care for a resident's physical needs and provide safety. Often, the ailments of nursing home residents cause mental or emotional issues and nursing home social workers vital to nursing home residents to care for those needs. The social workers are to advocate for residents and monitor them for emotional issues, stress, and depression. Nursing home social workers are to help residents and their families transition between the facility and the hospital or hospice and assist with locating necessary resources for nursing home residents.
Interestingly, even with such important responsibility for residents, nursing home social workers are not held to any standardized qualifications. The federal standards for nursing home social workers are very low and state laws are inconsistent.
According to a recent study from the University of Iowa, only half of 1,071 nursing home social workers have a degree in social work and 20% do not have a four year degree. Two-thirds of the social workers surveyed do not belong to a professional organization that keeps them up to date on current nursing home social work issues, such as elder suicide and physical, emotional or financial abuse, and only 38% are licensed social workers.
Federal law requires homes with more than 120 beds to employ a full-time social worker. Most facilities do employ one, but devoting an appropriate amount of time to any one individual is nearly impossible. Federal guidelines indicate that one social worker can handle up to 120 residents. However, when asked, the majority of the survey panel indicated that fewer than 60 residents could be managed by one social worker.
Ten states do not address nursing home social worker qualifications and seven state codes do not comply with federal regulations. Twenty-one states require a social work degree and most others require a four year degree - but not necessarily in social work. Anyone with a bachelor's degree in any human service field and one year of supervised experience in the field is considered qualified. There are glaring loopholes in Colorado and Indiana. In Colorado, for-profit nursing homes in rural areas do not have to hire a qualified social worker if they advertise for a week in a local paper are unable to fill the position. In Indiana, social services can be provided by a member of the clergy who completes a 48 hour course and consults with a social worker.
Given the importance of social workers in the nursing home setting, one wonders if this is not an area that should be examined more closely.
