School of Social Work, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA.
Department of Psychological & Quantitative Foundations, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA.
J Gerontol Soc Work. 2021 Oct-Nov;64(7):699-720. doi: 10.1080/01634372.2021.1891594. Epub 2021 Mar 3.
Nursing home (NH) residents have high psychosocial needs related to illness, disability, and changing life circumstances. The staff member with the most expertise in addressing psychosocial needs is the social worker. However, federal regulations indicate that only NHs with 120+ beds need hire a social services staff member and that a "qualified social worker" need not have a social work degree. Therefore, two-thirds of NHs are not required to employ a social services staff member and none are required to hire a degreed social worker. This is in stark contrast to NASW professional standards. Reporting findings from this nationally representative sample of 924 social services directors, we describe the NH social services workforce and document that most NHs do hire social services staff, although 42% of social services directors are not social work educated. 37% of NHs have a degreed and licensed social worker at the helm of social services. The odds of hiring a degreed and licensed social workers are higher for larger NHs, especially if not-for-profit and not part of a chain. NH residents deserve psychosocial care planned by staff with such expertise. Quality of psychosocial care impacts quality of life.
养老院（NH）居民有与疾病、残疾和生活环境变化相关的高度心理社会需求。在解决心理社会需求方面最专业的员工是社会工作者。然而，联邦法规规定，只有拥有 120 张以上床位的 NH 才需要雇用一名社会服务人员，并且“合格的社会工作者”不必拥有社会工作学位。因此，三分之二的 NH 不需要雇用社会服务人员，也不需要雇用有学位的社会工作者。这与 NASW 的专业标准形成鲜明对比。本研究报告了一项针对 924 名社会服务主任的全国代表性样本的调查结果，描述了 NH 的社会服务人员队伍，并记录了大多数 NH 确实雇用了社会服务人员，尽管 42%的社会服务主任没有接受过社会工作教育。37%的 NH 有一个有学位和执照的社会工作者担任社会服务的负责人。对于较大的 NH 来说，雇用有学位和执照的社会工作者的可能性更高，尤其是如果是非营利性的，并且不属于连锁机构。NH 居民应该得到有这种专业知识的员工提供的心理社会关怀。心理社会关怀的质量会影响生活质量。
