Social Worker

Location: Melbourne | Northern Metropolitan

Job type: Not provided

Organisation: Royal Women's Hospital

**Salary**: Salary not specified

Occupation: Health and Allied Health

Reference: 24407

Social Worker New Graduate position - Social Work Department

**Fixed Term Position Full Time**
**12 months - 38 Hours per week**

Since 1856, the Royal Women’s Hospital (the Women’s) has been providing health services to women and newborn babies in Victoria. Today, the Women’s is one of Australia’s leading specialist public hospital dedicated and advocating for the health and wellbeing of women and newborns. Through our campus at Parkville and by supporting ten research centres, the Women’s is advancing healthcare for women in maternity services and the care of newborn babies, gynaecology, women’s health and women’s cancer services.

The Women’s Social Model of Health Division is a newly formed Division that reinforces the Women’s commitment to the social determinants of health. Whilst all services at the Women’s ensure health equity for all women, the Social Model of Health Division brings together our multidisciplinary services and programs that specialise in providing care to women facing challenges that may adversely affect their health. In particular, the division has a focus on ensuring a woman’s social, economic, cultural, environmental, geographic, and other factors are taken into account in her care plan with the overall aim of reducing health inequalities and addressing systemic inadequacies that affect health access and outcomes.

Social Work at The Women’s aims to improve the biopsychosocial health and well-being of patients and babies attending The Women’s. Social Work embraces a view of women’s health that is holistic and considers women’s social, physical, emotional and cultural wellbeing. Our Social Workers offer support to women through their maternity, neonatal, gynaecological and oncology experiences and provide information, counselling, support and advocacy for women in response to health and social needs.

**Your contribution**

This role provides a recent social work graduate with a unique opportunity to develop their clinical practice skills within a specialist women’s hospital. It provides access to experience in conducting biopsychosocial assessments, case management, patient advocacy, bereavement care, and discharge planning, whilst receiving a high level of clinical supervision, mentoring and support.

The role is focused on the provision of high quality, evidence-based clinical services to patients and their families, and also encompasses non clinical tasks such as contributing to program and guidelines development, research, student and professional education, community liaison and the promotion of the service.

**Clinical Expertise/Skills**
- Under supervision and guidance, provide a high quality, evidence-based Social Work service to patients and their families, including undertaking psychosocial assessments, crisis intervention, short term counselling, advocacy, community liaison and referral, casework and discharge planning
- Ensure the prompt assessment of newly referred patients and timely discharge plans
- Provide social work interventions, in line with professional standards, organisational guidelines and time-frames within the Social Work Department
- Work collaboratively and flexibly within a multidisciplinary team involved in the care of patients and their families and take a continuum of care approach tailored to the complexity of each woman’s clinical presentation and social circumstance
- Demonstrated ability to work as a member of a care team and ability to facilitate meetings with a health personnel and with other external service providers
- Possess an understanding of relevant legislation and practice frameworks relating to family violence practice, including but not limited to the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS), Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) and the Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework (MARAM)
- Critically review and keep up to date with professional literature relevant to Social Work

**Research and training**
- Participate in research activities arising from direct social practice, as appropriate
- Participate in professional development relevant to the area of work
- Identify research opportunities arising from direct social work and participate as appropriate

**Practice improvement and Service development**
- Participate in clinical audits and other relevant quality activities
- Ensure services are delivered in accordance with National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards and the EQUIP National Program

**Information and data management**
- Use of the Women’s electronic medical record (EMR) where required to fulfil the duties of this position
- Ensure that accurate information and records are maintained in line with relevant hospital policies and guidelines