- Providing counseling, emotional support, and existential care to patients and families, helping them cope with the emotional, social, and psychological impact of serious illness.
- Facilitating communication between the healthcare team, patients, and families to ensure that care goals are understood and aligned.
- Supporting advance care planning, including helping patients and families make informed decisions about treatment options, and discussing issues like living wills, power of attorney, and Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders.
- Crisis intervention, including managing situations where patients or families are experiencing significant distress or anxiety.
- Assessing family dynamics and providing referrals for additional services, such as grief counseling, financial assistance, or support groups.
- Educating and supporting family members, helping them understand the stages of illness, caregiving, and bereavement.
- Provide anticipatory grief interventions and bereavement support for patients and families before and after patient death.
- Advocating for the patient’s psychosocial needs within the broader healthcare system, ensuring they receive the appropriate resources and care.
- Educate and support caregivers, recognizing the physical, emotional and financial strain of caregiving.
- Participate in team education, staff resilience efforts, and quality improvement initiatives.
- Collaborate with the team to develop legacy initiatives to enhance the family experience of loss and remembrance.
- Adheres to all department/facility policies.
- Must behave ethically and professionally.
- Have a master's degree in social work from a school accredited by the Council on Social Work Education
- Prefer at least three years of full-time social work experience in palliative care
- The role requires strong interpersonal skills, a deep understanding of human behavior, and expertise in the psychological aspects of chronic illness and end-of-life care.
- Knowledge and abilities essential to the successful performance of the duties assigned to the position
- Demonstrates resourcefulness, effective written and oral communication, diplomacy, organizational, and analytic skills.
- Self-directed, assertive and creative in problem solving, systems planning and patient care management in a high-volume work environment.
- Must be capable of working with diverse populations.
- Must have emotional resilience and stability since the work often involves dealing with crises, loss and death in the context of close relationships with patients and families.
- Must have knowledge in caring for patients in different developmental stages throughout the life cycle, including terminal illness.
- Demonstrates emotional and psychological resilience and ability to manager high-stakes, emotionally charged situations.




