Question from non-nurse

[Imnotanurse]

As my screen name states, I am not a nurse. I am coming here hoping to gain some clarity from professionals with inside information.

Here is the situation: As the sole caretaker for aging parents (father now deceased), I have many years experience dealing with providers in numerous settings. Many hospitals, clinics, and several long term care facilities. By and large, the nurses and physicians I have encountered have been top-notch; thorough, efficient, knowledgeable, and truly skilled professionals.

Additionally, in caring for my parents, I have worked with many social workers in hospitals, long-term care facilities, at the county level, and in private care management. Without fail, social services is always the weak link in the chain of care. Never has a social worker offered any useful guidance or knowledge in response to my questions. Standard response is always "I don't know. I can't help you." They have all been abrupt and eager to end any conversation. The very most help I have ever received from a social worker is when she thrust a list of about 60 nursing homes in my face and said, "here, pick one."

So, my question is this: From your standpoint, are all social workers like this? Or do I just have bad luck?

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

As my screen name states, I am not a nurse. I am coming here hoping to gain some clarity from professionals with inside information.

Here is the situation: As the sole caretaker for aging parents (father now deceased), I have many years experience dealing with providers in numerous settings. Many hospitals, clinics, and several long term care facilities. By and large, the nurses and physicians I have encountered have been top-notch; thorough, efficient, knowledgeable, and truly skilled professionals.

Additionally, in caring for my parents, I have worked with many social workers in hospitals, long-term care facilities, at the county level, and in private care management. Without fail, social services is always the weak link in the chain of care. Never has a social worker offered any useful guidance or knowledge in response to my questions. Standard response is always "I don't know. I can't help you." They have all been abrupt and eager to end any conversation. The very most help I have ever received from a social worker is when she thrust a list of about 60 nursing homes in my face and said, "here, pick one."

So, my question is this: From your standpoint, are all social workers like this? Or do I just have bad luck?

I suspect it's regional. I've worked in places where the social workers were awesome resources and other places where they were worse than useless. Evidently you reside in one of the latter locales.

[southern rn]

I always ask the other nurses these questions. We see more and hear more on the front lines what goes on in different facilities as far as care.The social workers probably do not.As an aside I'm now starting to deal with caring with my parents and i know how hard it is both emotionally and physically.

UOTE=Imnotanurse;9155932]Examples of my interactions w/ SWs over the years:

Me:"Are there any nursing homes on this list you gave me that have better reputations than others?"

SW: "I don't know."

Me: "Are you aware of any nursing homes that care for (fill-in-the-blank-condition) better than others?"

SW: "I have no idea."

Me: "If you were in my position, how would you deal with the overwhelming responsibilities of caregiving? Are there any resources in the community that I can turn to?"

SW: "I don't know what to tell you."

Example of bad advice: Looking for a nursing home for dad. Hired a SW from a very expensive private case mgmt firm. SW's top choice was a facility that was closed six months later due to deplorable conditions and years of state and federal violations. (Dad died before we placed him in LTC.)

I could go on and on...

[Eagle2110, ADN, BSN, CNM]

Sorry that you've had such a bad experience. Honestly, I have come across both good and bad social workers. The deciding factor was usually where they worked. Many are overloaded with cases and therefore overwhelmed. The more accessible ones tend to work in more organized/less stressful environments. For instance, I phoned a particular's hospital social work department multiple times approx 2.5-3 months ago...still have not heard from them. Smh. But I have also worked in a small children shelter with two wonderful social workers who were very dedicated and helpful.

Just today, I was on OurParents? just checking out the sight. It provides a lot of information regarding senior living facilities. You may also want to try a nursing staffing agency; they should be able to provide you with the feedback they often hear from their nurses regarding different facilities. I hope you all the best.