Social Worker on call 24/7?

[CANRN, MSN, RN]

I am an on-call RN and have run into a situation I have never had before (been doing hospice 6 years) The company I work for is not providing an on call SW anymore, strictly to save money. There have been several times I have needed a SW for a family dealing with a crisis during a death visit and during emergency admissions and visits. It sure would have been nice to have a SW at the end of my phone to call and help out with the situations.

It is my understanding, SW is a core service under the COPs and should be available 24/7.

Is this appropriate???

[Hospice Nurse LPN, BSN, RN]

I work for a small company and our MSW is always available.

[ErinS, BSN, RN]

I work for a largish company and have never had official 24/7 sw coverage, although I can sometimes get the MSW to go above and beyond when needed.

[tewdles, RN]

MSW is a core service and should be available 24/7, as you said. Too many agencies cut those corners and expect on call nurses and visit nurses to double as social workers. I worked for a company that had one field MSW for 50 patients in a large service area. It was not pretty.

[CANRN, MSN, RN]

MSW is a core service and should be available 24/7, as you said. Too many agencies cut those corners and expect on call nurses and visit nurses to double as social workers. I worked for a company that had one field MSW for 50 patients in a large service area. It was not pretty.

I thought the core services had to be available 24/7. Supposedly, our SWs are "available" but try getting one when you need one. Being at a difficult admission, death or just a panic call from a family and it gets hairy. It is hard to care for the patient, call the doctor, and take care of the family emotional needs at the same time. It does not happen often, but when it does and it is not handled properly, it can put a blemish on customer satisfaction; then cost the agency 10 new referrals. I have voiced this concern but, don't think I have been heard.