Position Title: Social Worker – MSW, LCSW (PRN)
Location: Riley Hospital
Shift: PRN (As Needed)
The Social Worker provides face-to-face support with patients and families, assisting with psychosocial issues and treatment planning. This role involves developing educational materials, serving as a resource and role model for students, interns, LBSWs, and LSWs, and collaborating with the clinical team to meet patients' psychosocial needs. The Social Worker evaluates complex psychosocial factors, provides counseling, and facilitates safe discharge planning. The role also includes serving as a liaison for abuse/neglect cases, crisis intervention, and supporting patients through acute crises, including substance use and mental health disorders.
Key Responsibilities:
Meet face-to-face with patients and families, providing psychosocial assessment and support.
Assist in developing educational materials for team members, patients, and families.
Serve as a resource and role model for students, interns, LBSWs, and LSWs.
Collaborate with the clinical team to develop treatment plans addressing psychosocial issues and diagnosis.
Communicate and coordinate with healthcare team members to ensure safe, timely, and resourceful patient care.
Interpret and communicate complex patient and family needs, modeling caring practices.
Assess psychosocial risk factors, including prior functioning, support systems, reactions to illness, and coping mechanisms.
Counsel patients and families regarding emotional, social, and financial impacts of illness/disability.
Access and mobilize community and family resources to meet patient needs.
Provide mental health assessments based on physician referral.
Support complex discharge planning to ensure safe transition to next level of care.
Serve as a point person for abuse/neglect, domestic violence, and institutional abuse cases; coordinate with protective services.
Lead crisis intervention and de-escalation efforts, supporting patients in acute crises and potentially dangerous situations.
Utilize effective interviewing techniques with victims, perpetrators, families, and significant others.
Provide intervention in guardianship, foster care, adoption, and mental health placements.
Offer specialized mental health services, including crisis intervention, addiction assessments, and psychiatric referrals.
Support end-of-life care, guardianship, foster care, and related services.
Maintain principles and practices of crisis intervention and de-escalation.
Develop and maintain strong working relationships with hospital administrators, medical teams, law enforcement, APS/DCS, schools, probation, and community agencies.
Complete documentation accurately within electronic medical records.
May be scheduled for on-call and holiday rotations.
Qualifications & Requirements:
Master’s Degree in Social Work required.
Permanent licensure as an LCSW in Indiana required.
Certification in Crisis Prevention Intervention or equivalent de-escalation training required within 6 months of hire.
Knowledge of evidence-based psychosocial assessment, short-term therapeutic counseling, and crisis intervention for mental health and substance use disorders.
Understanding of disease processes and human behavior related to health social needs.
Skilled in complex discharge planning to ensure safe patient transitions.
Knowledge of legal mandates for child and adult protective services at the state and county levels.
Understanding of growth, development, and end-of-life care principles.
Ability to identify decision-makers and coordinate goals-of-care conversations.
Experience adapting services to geographically, culturally, and financially diverse populations.
Ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with hospital staff, law enforcement, social services, schools, and community organizations.
Computer literacy and proficiency in electronic medical record documentation.
Flexibility to work on-call and holiday rotations as scheduled.
About IU Health: IU Health is Indiana’s largest and most comprehensive healthcare system, with nearly 40,000 team members, 16 hospitals, and $8.64 billion in operating revenue. Our programs in cancer, cardiovascular, neuroscience, orthopedics, pediatrics, and transplants are nationally recognized. In partnership with the Indiana University School of Medicine, IU Health combines research, education, and clinical excellence to improve health outcomes for Indiana communities.
