Home / Career Explorer / Community and Social Service

Healthcare Social Workers

	Median Wage (USD, 2024)	Projected Job Openings (2023-2033)	Projected Growth (2023-2033)
National Statistics	$68,090	18800	9.7%
State Statistics	-	-	-
City Statistics	-	-	-

Statistics

National

State

City

State

City

$68,090

Median Wage (USD, 2023)

18800

Projected Job Openings (2023-2033)

9.7%

Projected Growth (2023-2033)

Provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include advising family caregivers. Provide patients with information and counseling, and make referrals for other services. May also provide case and care management or interventions designed to promote health, prevent disease, and address barriers to access to healthcare.

Experience Requirements Overview

Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Education, Training and Experience

Required Level of Education: Master's Degree

Related Work Experience: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years

On-Site or In-Plant Training: Up to and including 1 month

On-the-Job Training: Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months

Detailed Work Activities

Develop treatment plans for patients or clients.
Confer with clients to discuss treatment plans or progress.
Counsel clients or patients regarding personal issues.
Collaborate with other professionals to assess client needs or plan treatments.
Investigate legal issues.
Refer individuals to educational or work programs.
Refer clients to community or social service programs.
Counsel clients or patients with substance abuse issues.
Counsel family members of clients or patients.
Intervene in crisis situations to assist clients.
Collect information about clients.
Interview clients to gather information about their backgrounds, needs, or progress.
Evaluate potential problems in home or work environments of clients.
Develop treatment plans for patients or clients.
Modify treatment plans to accommodate client needs.
Monitor clients to evaluate treatment progress.
Maintain client records.
Supervise workers providing client or patient services.
Advise others on social or educational issues.
Complete documentation required by programs or regulations.
Conduct research on social issues.
Plan programs to address community health issues.

Work Values

Achievement

Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Working Conditions

Recognition

Relationships

Support

Independence

Tasks

Advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises.
Educate clients about end-of-life symptoms and options to assist them in making informed decisions.
Collaborate with other professionals to evaluate patients' medical or physical condition and to assess client needs.
Refer patient, client, or family to community resources to assist in recovery from mental or physical illness and to provide access to services such as financial assistance, legal aid, housing, job placement or education.
Utilize consultation data and social work experience to plan and coordinate client or patient care and rehabilitation, following through to ensure service efficacy.
Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress according to measurable goals described in treatment and care plan.
Identify environmental impediments to client or patient progress through interviews and review of patient records.
Counsel clients and patients in individual and group sessions to help them overcome dependencies, recover from illness, and adjust to life.
Plan discharge from care facility to home or other care facility.
Organize support groups or counsel family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, and supporting the client or patient.
Modify treatment plans to comply with changes in clients' status.
Supervise and direct other workers providing services to clients or patients.
Plan and conduct programs to combat social problems, prevent substance abuse, or improve community health and counseling services.
Develop or advise on social policy and assist in community development.
Conduct social research to advance knowledge in the social work field.
Investigate child abuse or neglect cases and take authorized protective action when necessary.
Oversee Medicaid- and Medicare-related paperwork and recordkeeping in hospitals.

Work Styles

Achievement/Effort

Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

Persistence

Initiative

Leadership

Cooperation

Concern for Others

Social Orientation

Self-Control

Stress Tolerance

Adaptability/Flexibility

Dependability

Attention to Detail

Integrity

Independence

Innovation

Analytical Thinking

Data Source: This page includes information from the O*NET 30.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This page includes Employment Projections program, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Session has been expired