Annual of social work, Vol. 26 No. 1, 2019.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3935/ljsr.v26i1.222
THE ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKERS EMPLOYED IN PSYCHIATRIC DEPARTMENTS AND FACTORS AFFECTING THEIR READINESS TO ENGAGE IN SUPERVISION
Dunja Zlomislić
orcid.org/0000-0003-2344-2314
; City office for social protection and people with disabilities City of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Maja Laklija
orcid.org/0000-0002-2580-4983
; Department of Social Work Faculty of Law University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The paper presents the results of the research conducted on a sample of 23 social workers employed in psychiatric departments in 5 hospitals in the City of Zagreb. The aim of the research is to gain insight into the perception of own work experience of social workers employed in psychiatric departments as well as the need for supervision. It is about an explorative qualitative research study. For the purpose of collecting empirical material, a semi-structured interview was used while the data was subjected to a thematic framework analysis. The results show that the social workers employed in psychiatric departments describe their professional role through the role of social workers in relation to patients and in contact with other experts. Challenges encountered by social workers are challenges related to the scope of their work and to the contact they have with patients. The factors mentioned by participants, the ones that affect their readiness to engage in supervision, relate to the perceived benefit of the supervision, the
organisational framework of supervision, the structure and characteristics of the supervisory group, the characteristics of the supervisor and the organisational preconditions. The results indicate the areas that can lead to professional stress (e.g. unclear scope of work, the position of social workers in team work, etc.) and provide guidance on which factors should be taken in mind in planning and organising supervision for medical social workers.
Keywords
medical social workers; professional role; professional stress; supervision
Hrčak ID:
223000
URI
Publication date:
8.7.2019.
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