Abby Goldberg is currently a junior at Nazareth University. She is a social work major, with a psychology and religious studies minor. She is currently interning at Kirkhaven Nursing Home.
Nazareth’s undergraduate social work program prides itself on its experiential emphasis. First-year students take “Introduction to Social Work,” which includes field trips into the community so that students are able to meet with local social workers in their community-based settings. Juniors complete a full-year social work internship for academic credit, and seniors complete an intensive internship called the senior social work practicum.
At Kirkhaven, I am currently shadowing three different social workers who work on different floors. One is a social worker for the long-term care residents, one works with the short-term rehab residents, and one is the social worker who works in the Dementia unit. I’ve gotten to see different aspects of the social worker’s role in a nursing home setting such as the admissions process, family meetings, interdisciplinary team meetings, and discharge planning. I’ve been able to observe the process of telepsychiatry visits with psychiatric nurse practitioners as well as performing state assessments. As I continue my internship through this and next semester, I will begin to perform intake assessments and state assessments and continue to observe the wide range of social work responsibilities in this setting.
This placement has helped me to learn about the role of social workers working in a nursing home setting. Specifically, I’ve learned the process of assessments and processes that social workers are involved in to ensure that the residents are safe and comfortable. My internship so far has emphasized the importance of communication among disciplines such as PT, OT, nursing and social work. This constant communication ensures that the residents are reaching their goals. I’m continuing to learn communication skills when working with residents with cognitive and psychological impairments and am able to practice these communication skills in a supportive setting like Kirkhaven.
There is only so much that you can learn in a classroom setting. By being able to go out into the community and work directly with the population I want to work with in the future, I can practice the skills that I am learning in class that will be essential in the future. Working within the community that I’m interested in has emphasized my passion for working with older adults and therefore allows me to seek more opportunities where I can work directly with these individuals.
It’s scary to go out into a new environment alone with hopes that you will learn something new. Go into your internship with an open mind and don’t be afraid to ask questions!