Job Responsibilities
Maintain documentation on nursing home residents, arrange
discharges/admissions, take care of innumerable ad hoc requests,
provide family sessions, provide succorance for the nursing staff
(all of whom are incredibly pressured), and other duties as they
crop up.
Also, make countless phone calls to other, related agencies
daily.
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Job Requirements
Obtained an MSW from Tulane University, after taking 16 months of
courses. (Two academic years with no summer off). The quality of
the classes was variable. It was easy to get into the "popular"
classes, with the more highly regarded instructors, because the
total class size was relatively small.
The professors were mostly quite good, and experienced in the
field in which they taught. The workload seemed heavy at the
time, but when I later returned to school for an MBA, I could see
that the workload was actually quite manageable in comparison.
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Uppers
Variety of tasks -- fast paced environment -- different challenges -- highly
entertaining co-workers (I've worked in a number of different nursing homes now,
as a temp, and can say that the staff people have always been easy and fun to
work with).
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Downers
The unremitting odor of urine in each of the nursing facilities.
UGH!!!!
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Lifestyle
Work hours are pretty reasonable -- although it's not always possible to get all
the work done, no one EXPECTS you to, so it's easy to work 8-4:30 or 7:00-3:30 or
whatever, and then do something else with the rest of your life.
Dress code is very lenient, though I personally try to look professional
(avoiding jeans, for example).
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Compensation
$23-$24 an hour. No bonuses, no stock options, no benefits. (At
least, I don't get them, as a temp). A permanent employee would
of course get health insurance, two-four weeks' vacation, and
other, similar, benefits.
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Advice to Jobseekers
The job outlook for the future is pretty good. There will always
be a need for nursing home social workers, for one thing, and
with the population aging at a rapid clip, the demand should
increase correspondingly.
Other advice: once you've gotten a secure position, try to use it
to advance to another, better position elsewhere (e.g., medical
social work in a hospital, or get training to become a nsg. home
administrator, a job which requires more dedication (longer work
hours) but much better pay.
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