School of Social Work, The University of Iowa.
Gerontologist. 2018 Jul 13;58(4):e260-e272. doi: 10.1093/geront/gny053.
The federal government holds nursing homes (NHs) responsible for assessing and addressing resident psychosocial needs. The staff person most responsible for psychosocial care planning is the social worker. However, the federal government requires only NHs with 120+ beds to employ one full-time social worker, and that person need not hold a social work degree. We compare/contrast state laws against federal laws and professional standards in terms of the minimum qualifications of NH social workers to determine in which states NH residents are legally entitled to receive services from a professional social work staff member.
Qualitative content analysis of language regarding NH social worker qualifications in state (and DC) administrative codes.
Twelve states do not address NH social worker qualifications. Up to 25 states appear to be out of federal compliance. Only Maine appears to meet the NASW professional standards. Other states approaching the standards include: Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and West Virginia.
The vast majority of the 3 million residents a year served by U.S. NHs are not entitled to social work staff who meet minimum professional standards, despite new federal regulations calling for trauma-informed and culturally competent care planning and the recognition that the needs of residents (including psychosocial needs) have continued to increase over past decades. Changes in federal regulations are recommended so that all NH residents have access to professional psychosocial services provided by a staff person who has earned at least a bachelor's degree in social work and who carries a reasonable caseload.
联邦政府要求养老院（NH）负责评估和满足居民的心理社会需求。最负责心理社会护理计划的工作人员是社会工作者。然而，联邦政府仅要求拥有 120 张以上床位的 NH 雇用一名全职社会工作者，而该人员不必持有社会工作学位。我们比较/对比了州法律与联邦法律和专业标准，以确定 NH 社会工作者的最低资格，从而确定 NH 居民在哪些州有权从专业社会工作人员那里获得服务。
对州（和 DC）行政法规中关于 NH 社会工作者资格的语言进行定性内容分析。
有 12 个州没有涉及 NH 社会工作者的资格。多达 25 个州似乎不符合联邦法规。只有缅因州似乎符合 NASW 的专业标准。其他接近标准的州包括：阿拉斯加、阿肯色州、康涅狄格州、伊利诺伊州、马萨诸塞州、明尼苏达州和西弗吉尼亚州。
尽管新的联邦法规要求进行创伤知情和文化上适当的护理计划，并认识到居民的需求（包括心理社会需求）在过去几十年中持续增加，但美国 NH 每年服务的 300 万居民中，绝大多数都没有资格获得符合最低专业标准的社会工作者，他们需要接受专业的心理社会服务。建议修改联邦法规，以便所有 NH 居民都能获得由至少获得社会工作学士学位且承担合理案件量的人员提供的专业心理社会服务。
