My career as a social worker in the healthcare industry was one of the most rewarding and challenging roles I have ever faced. One of the best things about the career was that it offered an opportunity to help people that desperately needed assistance and to learn a lot about how the healthcare industry operated. Also, the career as a healthcare social worker paid very well while I was able to do it. Overall, it is a great career for anyone who enjoys working with people to consider.
My day as a case manager/social worker in the healthcare industry usually started about 8:30 in the morning and would wrap up sometimes as late as 9:30 at night. The hours were long at times, but most days I wrapped things up by about 5:00 or so. In spite of the long hours, the work paid fairly well. I made an average of about $13-$14 per hour during my time as a full time healthcare social worker from 2006-2008. The work was also rewarding because I was working with elderly clients who needed someone to make sure that they were properly being cared for.
My specific role was working for a non-profit private social service agency that administered programs for the State of Florida. This position required me to travel all over the Jacksonville and meet with elderly patients in their homes and examine them and make sure that Certified Nursing Assistants and other healthcare professionals were properly doing their jobs in providing top quality healthcare to the patients. The drawback to this was that I spent a lot of time on the road and put a fair amount of mileage on my car. That said however, the position was enjoyable because I was not strapped to a desk in an office somewhere. I was able to get out into the community and meet and mingle with people. For someone like me that loves interesting conversations, this position was awesome because I always met someone interesting in my day. Many of my clients became close friends who shared with me stories from their careers and lives that I was able to learn from and from this I grew as a person.
One major drawback that I would advise anyone looking to get into this career to be aware of is that it is not a recession-proof career. When governments cut their budgets, social work in the healthcare industry and other areas is one of the first things to be cut. It would be a good idea to go to work directly for a hospital, nursing home, or home healthcare agency as opposed to working for a private government provider or a government agency, if you are looking to be a healthcare social worker for the long term. If someone had advised me of this, I might have been better prepared for the recession that occurred in 2008. Now, I have been working in different areas due to the job market for healthcare social workers being tight in the current recession. I hope however to return to the field of healthcare industry social work, once the economy improves.
In the end, anyone looking for a challenging and rewarding career in the healthcare industry would certainly do well to look at the role of doing social work for a healthcare organization. I know that I thoroughly enjoyed the career and look forward to the opportunity to return to it one day. The pay is excellent and the overall career experience is rewarding. I never felt like the job was a drudgery and enjoyed getting up each morning to go to work, when I was employed as a healthcare social worker.
Sources
Personal Experience
“Learn All About It: Medical and Public Health Social Work,” Monster
Andrea Asa, “How to Become a Social Worker,” Answers