Sw 205 - Social Work Interview

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When I asked Sherri about the Strength’s Perspective, she stated that she had not heard of this perspective. Once I had explained to her what Strength’s Perspective was she thought about it and said this is something that she does every day in the memory support unit. This is something she had been doing without ever realizing that it had a name. When a resident from the memory support unit is having troubles functioning they always focus on the positive things that they can do instead of what a resident cannot do. It is used more in the traditional hall with the residences that are in the home for short term care, for example with a resident that is there for care after a hip surgery and needs physical therapy it is easy for the resident to get discouraged because they are not able to do what they want. Just doing simple tasks like getting out of bed to shower now requires someone to be there to make sure they don’t fall. So we try to encourage them by telling them the progress that they have made from the time they got to the facility to now. She thinks it’s a great perspective and thinks it should be use across the board in all social work fields.

Sherri stated that she is continuously learning and that there is not anything she can think of at this time that she wished she would have learned more about. But stated that was over 20 years and many rules and regulations have changed so it is important to stay up to date with all these things. You can get into serious trouble and could even lose your license.

The aspect that she loved the most was the fact that on a daily basis she gets to help others the way her grandfather’s social worker helped her family. By reaching out and being the voice that the resident may not have. The most challenging part is when making the care plans for the resident is getting everyone on the same page. Making sure that these 6 other people (could be more or less) are looking out for the best interest of the resident.

An ethical dilemma that she has recently experienced she stated was gentleman had recently been admitted into the VA home for falling and breaking his hip and 2 ribs was released from the hospital and sent to the VA home for after care and physical therapy. Once he arrived we were told by his son that his in-home care giver was not allowed to visit his dad in the home because he suspects that the care giver has been stealing money from him and using his father to pay for things for herself and her son. However, the son does not have any evidence that supports this has actually been happening. So as the social worker of course I am trying to look out of the best interest of my resident but also make sure I am not crossing any lines in doing it. My resident is coherent and aware of what is going on and he wanted to see the care giver and her son to see how they were. There was nothing I could do because is not posing a threat and the gentlemen wanted to see her. So, she arranged it where they all met in the foyer of the building and he was never left alone with her so this way we could monitor the behavior and interaction with the care giver and so the son also his POA would not get upset because she got to see where his room was at and was never left alone with the resident.

As we concluded the interview, she smiled and replied, "I love working with my residence, and that her biggest reward was seeing them live a full life. Sherri gave me a better understanding on how it will be working as a social worker and how the aging population is growing and more social workers are needed in this field. She gave me the best advice ever, if you are not passionate about helping people and making a difference in these people’s lives, you are not only wasting your time and money on school, but you are doing a dis-justice to the people that are relying on you to help them better themselves. You must have the want and drive and you have to do this because you love your job.” I believe this would be a great field for me when I finish my degree, I love helping people and seeing them grow is an amazing feeling for me.