Healthcare Social Workers

Also Called:

Clinical Social Worker,

Hospice Social Worker,

Medical Social Worker,

Social Worker

What they do: Provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include advising family caregivers. Provide patients with information and counseling, and make referrals for other services. May also provide case and care management or interventions designed to promote health, prevent disease, and address barriers to access to healthcare.

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Human Services

Career Cluster

What do they typically do on the job?

  • Advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises.
  • Educate clients about end-of-life symptoms and options to assist them in making informed decisions.
  • Collaborate with other professionals to evaluate patients' medical or physical condition and to assess client needs.

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking.

Concern for Others

Integrity

Self Control

Dependability

Stress Tolerance

Adaptability/Flexibility

Interests

Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.

Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz

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Social

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Investigative

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Conventional

Knowledge

People who want to pursue this career have knowledge in these areas.

Math and Science

  • Psychology

  • Sociology and anthropology

Health

  • Therapy and counseling

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

  • Philosophy and religion

Business

  • Customer service

Abilities

Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.

Verbal

  • Communicate by speaking

  • Listen and understand what people say

Ideas and Logic

  • Notice when problems happen

  • Use rules to solve problems

Skills

People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.

Basic Skills

  • Talking to others

  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

Problem Solving

  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Social

  • Understanding people's reactions

  • Looking for ways to help people

Work Values

Work values describe how your core beliefs align with those commonly needed for this career.

Relationships

Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.

Achievement

Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Independence

Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

1. Do some research
  • Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
  • Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
  • Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career
2. Plan your next move

Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop