I was being sarcastic.  My mum had a social worker on her case when she
signed up for hospice as did my dad when he was dying of cancer.  In both
cases, the social worker was great, but sometimes lines of communication got
messed up and things would not get done right, or according to their wishes
(my parents' wishes, that is).

Sorry to hear of the problems with the social worker who was assigned to
your mom.  Sounds like she didn't do her job thoroughly.

Don't get me wrong, I've liked all the social workers I've met but I've
always thought they had a thankless job, trying to work with their clients
and their agencies and to reconcile the two sides, not to mention working
with clients' families.  I've had friends who were social workers who've
told me they loved working with the people but hated their jobs because of
the restrictions they had to work with, not to mention all the red tape and
paperwork.  I almost decided to be a social worker myself, but that was
quickly derailed when I did an internship in college in the local county
social services department and discovered just how things were, and that was
25 years ago.  I also realised I couldn't leave the job at  the office when
I left at night and wouldn't be able to leave my work there.  So I didn't go
into social work but ended up in computers and the Human Resources side of
things..

Kat

----- Original Message -----
From: "Betty B" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2002 10:44 AM
Subject: Re: Striving For Independence


> In a message dated 2/9/2002 8:58:03 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
>
> > Are they supposed to?
> >
> I dunno.  My previous next door neighbor was a social worker and our
> socializin' was just fine.
>
> I'm still not that checked out on the social worker's general function in
> occupational life.  I only had a professional encounter with one, and for
a
> hospital employee with a major role in the life of an imminent hospice
> patient (my Mom), this social worker was woefully out of the loop.
>
> Nobody told my Mom that she was terminal, but the right hand didn't know
what
> the left hand was doing, so the social worker waltzed (it sounds better if
I
> say waltzed) right in the hospital room and started talking about hospice.
> Nobody was there with my Mom -- no family, no friends.  I was at home and
> couldn't travel at the time, and my nephew was nearly 100 miles away.  All
I
> know is that I called on the phone at that particular time and found my
Mom
> crying on the phone and saying that she couldn't talk just then.  Later
the
> social worker called me -- as soon as she returned to her office.  That's
how
> I know what happened.
>
> I am sympathetic with this social worker, at least until I find out
> information to the contrary.  I don't know that she didn't miss some
> important meeting either.  Although, the oncologist's act with me was
little
> more than a bungled attempt at sophistry.  That helps me lean a little
more
> in favor of wanting to defend the social worker.
>
> I'm actually wanting to call the whole thing criminal negligence, but
we're
> talking about my Mom here.  I'm sure that makes me radically different
from
> everybody else on this list, each of whom would be completely impartial
and
> objective given similar circumstances  ;-)
>
> The social worker is a mushroom?  When she is the one who is going to
broach
> the subject of something as serious and infamously final as hospice, she
is
> kept in the dark?
>
> Whatever good she came with that day, this social worker, whatever
resources
> she brought to offer were lost to my Mother, in the stark face of a
> barbarically revealed truth.
>
> To answer your question, I don't know what social workers are supposed to
do.
>
>
> Betty