Responsibilities

• Provide emotional support to clients as needed.
• Assist clients in end-of-life decision making while collaborating with staff and doctors.
• Provide consultation to doctors and staff regarding the Veterinary Social Worker's assessment of clients to facilitate treatment and effective communication.
• Act as a liaison between the client and healthcare team when complex medical information needs to be communicated to help ensure the client's questions and concerns are answered in a manner they can understand.
• Develop brochures and resources for clients regarding medical treatment, pet loss, and the grief process, euthanasia, memorialization of pets, veterinary social work services, and the human-animal bond.
• Enrich and enhance the hospital environment to provide support to the euthanasia process.
• Develop website materials for clients for cancer treatment, pet loss, and other resources such as the Quality-of-Life scale, memorialization information, stories, etc.
• Provide pet loss counseling to clients by phone and in person.
• Facilitate (organize, implement, maintain, and promote) a pet loss support group.
• Provide informal debriefing services to team members, individually, or in groups, after difficult situations.
• Offer crisis support for employees at work and referrals for ongoing counseling.
• In conjunction with Human Resources, provide other short-term interventions such as mediation of conflict, assessment, and referral for outside and/or EAP counseling.
• Consult with Human Resources and Hospital Leadership regarding wellness of staff to enhance hospital functioning.
• Develop and present topics of Veterinary Social Work expertise such as compassion fatigue, stress management, work/life balance, communication skills, grief, and pet loss.
• Develop and provide resources for the team in conjunction with Human Resources regarding wellness accessibility on website, email, and/or newsletter.
• Establish and maintain consistent documentation of client and team intervention, while maintaining confidentiality.

Education, License, and Job Requirements

• Licensed Social Worker in the District of Columbia

Skills and Experience

• One to two years of experience as a licensed social worker.
• Experience with grief/bereavement counseling is preferred.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills required.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills required.
• Must be able to work independently.
• Must be able to provide services needed by clients and the team in an emotionally intense, fast-paced setting.