Licensed Clinical Social Worker - Cancer Center (Full Time, Day)

At NorthBay Health, this LCSW provides direct clinical social work service, counseling and case management services to Cancer Center patients and their families including psychosocial assessment, development of a plan of care, implementation and documentation of emotional, psychological, social, financial, environmental or follow-up referral needs:

• Will provide ACOS approved screening tools to assess and address psychosocial distress, including evaluating patients who screen positive for moderate and severe distress at time of onset of diagnosis, pre-surgical and post-surgical visits, on initiation of treatment, midway through treatment and on discharge if positive for moderate and severe distress and at other times where indicated.
• Will provide individual, family and group counseling, education, advocacy, case management, patient navigation for social service and program development throughout all phases of the cancer continuum-including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, discharge planning, survivorship, palliative care, end-of life care and bereavement support and any other pivotal medical visits at time of greatest risk for distress. 
• Will be an essential member of the survivorship program team, working along physicians, nurses, nutritionists, physical and other therapists and other allied health professionals to develop and implement survivorship services.  
• Will ensure patients who screen positive will have appropriate referrals.
• Will maintain a resource listing containing name of psychiatrists, psychologists, pastoral care providers, palliative care providers and others who have clinical expertise to manage stress related concerns.
• Will evaluate, document and report on distress screenings each calendar year in a form and at intervals suitable to accreditation authorities applying best practices.  Will support program development.
• Will thoroughly document screening results and services rendered in the health records and conduct quality improvement audits.
• Will meet certification requirements of all certifying agencies, ACOS and others as required.
• Will participate in interdisciplinary team meetings and tumor boards and will do reporting to cancer committee on psychosocial program initiatives. 
• Will monitor compliance with all standards and conduct quality improvement initiatives

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Education:  

• Master of Social Work from a school of Social Work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.

Licensure:  

• California BBS Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).

Experience:  

• Minimum of two year’s experience within the acute health care setting or the community health setting. 

• Experience in oncology and grief and loss preferred.

Skills:   

• Strong clinical assessment skills.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: verbal, written and listening. Ability to convey instructions, directions and information appropriately and accurately.  Ability to work diplomatically with a wide variety of people. 

• Strong critical thinking skills- must be capable of independent judgment and have strong clinical decision-making skills. Ability to work independently with minimum direction. 

• Excellent follow-through skills.

• Ability to organize a variety of concurrent activities, set realistic goals and objectives, plan ahead and meet deadlines without compromising quality.

• Ability to direct the actions of others effectively to accomplish tasks and functions.

• Ability to work effectively with diverse populations, including those with respect to age, culture, ethnicity, and gender.

• Knowledge and understanding of individual, child, and family development, human behavior and communication, the influence of culture and values in social work practice, psychotherapy, case management, and the relation between social work practice and medicine.

• Skilled at working with patients/families coping with loss and grief.

• Knowledge of child, elder and dependent adult abuse and domestic violence reporting requirements and other significant legislation and laws regulating social work practice, e.g. Tarasoff, HIPAA, etc. Ability to make appropriate interventions based on law, professional ethics and policy.

• Knowledge of suicidal behavior, the ability to assess lethality, and the ability to develop appropriate treatment plan.  Knowledge of an ability to effectively use DSM V. Knowledge of legal requirements and guidelines for providing psychiatric services including the appropriate use of 5150.

• Ability to successfully manage conflict. 

• Basic proficiency with word processing required. Experience with Cerner, and Power Point preferred.

• Knowledge of acute care, subacute care, long-term care, home care, hospice interventions, rehabilitation options, County mental health services, and other community resources and requirements- strongly preferred.

• Ability to conceptualize clinical situations and demonstrate application of theory in case management and psychotherapeutic responsibilities