Help me with a Rude Judgmental Social Worker from Hell!

[Daytonite]

My mother is currently receiving home health services and I am partially laid up myself since I've had some major abdominal surgery. A licensed social service worker (I've since learned she has a Master's in SW) was sent to evaluate her situation and refer her/us to some community services. I've got to say that when I was a manager on a busy city medical unit where we had our own LSW assigned to our unit exclusively, I never heard her or any other social worker speak as rudely or with such a ill-tempered attitude sprinkled throughout her visit and in subsequent telephone conversations with her. The final straw was when, in speaking with my sister who is not a healthcare professional, while I was in the hospital, she became nasty and confrontational and actually said to her, "Are you calling me a liar?" when my sister was trying to verify instructions she had previously given me that were different from what she was saying that particular day! I called the director of the home health agency, an RN of 30 years experience she so informed me (!), to report this and was surprised to get the same rudeness and attitude! Her assessment to the situation after continually interrupting me was that the SW and I just had a bad karma between us. Now, what nursing school ever taught that concept to condone speaking rudely and becoming judgmental with clients?

As a hospital manager I knew how to deal with this kind of behavior problem. What kind of recourse does a patient and family have with a private business like this other than to terminate their services? I've already spoken and reported this to the doctor who referred us to this agency. Some of you guys in home health please assure me that this is not the norm and that we were just "lucky" enough to run into a couple of nut cases. All the other nursing caregivers coming in and out of the home have been dreamboats.

I am in the process of writing a letter to the agency to document my complaint with a copy to go to the doctor. Any ideas anyone might offer in helping me with this would be appreciated since home health care really isn't my bivouac. I haven't taken a good look at the home health patient's bill of rights, but I'm about to. Thanks.

[gauge14iv, MSN, APRN, NP]

Medicare won't really care that people are rude - only if medicare rules or regulations were not followed.

[indigo girl]

Absolutely switch agencies, and make your life easier. Sometimes choosing not to fight, and saving your energy for other things (like getting well) is the wisest thing you can do.

Take care of yourself, Daytonite. I sure do like reading your educational posts. You are helping to educate more than just the new nurses and students, and I for one, just want you to know how much you are appreciated.

[KellieNurse06]

I think you hit the nail on the head with your post.

Not that these two situations were related, but both deal with unreasonable SW's. I had a friend that tried to adopt a baby (the baby was offered for adoption to my friend directly through a friend of a friend). The SW that was involved to do the home visits caused the process to be held up for 4 years, yup, 4 years...without ANY PARTY objecting to the adoption.

Why? Because my friend lost her full-term baby while she was still pregnant only 6 months prior, and the SW felt my friend was trying to "replace" her dead baby with a new one.

No one seemed to take into consideration that the baby needed a home, and the birth mother was only 28 and had 8 other children and all of them had been in and out of the foster care system almost from birth and she was trying to "do right" by her new baby daughter by giving her a home.

I absolutely hate social workers like this and they seem to be the norm rather than the exception.

Awww...thaat's so sad! You're friend seems like such a peach! Is she doing ok now? Ya, some people just don't "get it" do they??? Doesn't it make you just want to get out a 2x4 & smash your own head in??? lol! They forget that these are people's lives & this is the "real world"....not their life to pushing onto others...... Well I hope your friend got to keep the baby......8 kids at 28???? my gosh! fertile myrtle huh? lol Well you gotta give her credit she was trying to better her baby's life very unselfishly!