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Advocating For Relatives
In Nursing Homes
To the Editor,
Advocating for a relative in four Ohio nursing homes showed me there is a lot for the public to know and much for our legislators to do. One area of concern is that administrators can have titles that mislead the public as to the kind of care residents are receiving. An example is "Social Worker". When making a complaint to the Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists Board, I found out the person wasn't licensed nor registered with this board. There was no place to file a complaint. In another place, I found out it was common practice for licensed practical nurses to be called Social Worker without any education nor training in that regard. According to the C.S.W. M.F.T. Board, "Under 4757.41 (A) (11) individuals working in nursing homes are exempted from licensure and they can refer to themselves as social workers."
All residents and staff benefit from educated and licensed social workers. Some aspects that help the residents is that a social worker can recognize abuse. They can talk with the resident who needs that dimension of emotional or cognitive care due to anxiety or fear of life changes. They will have been trained in techniques that redirect residents before going to medical restraints. They also can help those temporary residents who need overlapping services from other agencies for a successful transition. It is not easy to live in a nursing home with the noise, the staffing problems and changes, the typical problems of food and medications, not much privacy, etc. etc. The residents deserve support from other than staff whose priority has to be getting the medications out on time. I hope people will read this and consider other than just a medical structure for nursing homes. A licensed Social Worker is needed in every nursing home.
Brenda Asterino
5/8/08
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