This May I’m graduating with my MSW so I’m starting to really think about what kinds of jobs I want to apply to. With my interests in mind, hospital social work has been suggested to me as something to pursue. It does sound like it might be a good fit so I’m curious.
I’d like to know how you got into it, what your job entails, what you like and don’t like, what the hours/shifts are like, what the salary is like where you are, and perhaps a “definitely don’t go into this type of job if you ___” caveat. Oh heck, anything you can think of to tell me!
My mom got her degree in Social Work with a major in Gerentology later in life (after us kids were finished high school). She got a job at a local Seniors hospital whose clients were requiring specific services for the elderly. She worked at the day hospital which has outpatient clients who had regular appointments. She liked her work and the patients that she saw. The nice thing was the hours were 8-4 because her clients were from the day hospital (instead of the long-term care patients).
Her hospital was not union, but the wages were in the right neighbourhood for union shops.
She had worked there for about 15 years and still liked the work that she was doing, but the beaurocracy drove her crazy. She wanted to do her job, but the decisions that were being made by the executive levels and the effects that those decisions had on the ability to do her job were aggravating.
After discussing it with her financial planner, she decided to retire at 62. She hasn’t regretted a moment of it.
The decision to leave was spurred by the problems with funding and directives being passed down from above, not by the work that she still loved to do. You’ll find that in any industry and company. The real trick is to love what you do.
Thanks for the input. I talked to a friend today who I learned is now doing hospital social work. He said it’s mostly discharge planning and crisis intervention. Was that the case with your mom or no because she did outpatient?