Oh dear. It seems like the media has picked up on the plight of these fresh-out-of-school nurses unable to find employment. As discussed in the aforementioned CNN news article and my previous blog post on striking nurses, the recession has created a surplus of nurses seeking high paying and stable careers in the healthcare industry. Unfortunately, there are now not enough positions to accommodate all these new grads, leaving nearly half of them unemployed.
This situation is not unlike that currently faced by social workers. Thanks to lack of title protection, we have a number of non-MSWs who perform "social work" and claim that they are "social workers". These include high school grads, college grads in other social science fields, and even nurses. While not impacting our job prospects as much as in nursing (though I worry about social work in the hospital setting), this surplus of "social worker type" professions has contributed to our low and stagnant wages.
The CNN article concludes by stating that there will be another nursing shortage as the baby boomer population ages and older nurses retire. Nurses HAVE title protection, while social workers don't. Perhaps it's time to create our own shortage of real social workers to drive up our job prospects and wages.
I feel that these unemployed nurses shouldn't have to worry too much. Once they find a nursing job, they'll be able to pay back their student loans pretty easily. As for social workers (especially ones who went to private schools for their MSWs), don't expect to repay your loans as quickly.
It is deeply upsetting when I see someone with the job title of social worker when they are not educated as a social worker. Title protection could be very helpful with improving the professions image. How many times do we read news stories on a CPS social worker getting blamed for mishandling a case? How many of those CPS social workers actually have a BSW or MSW? However...I think we need to be very careful about how we word any title protection laws.
ReplyDeleteThe problem I have is that a few states have chosen to base who can and cannot call themselves a social worker on licensing and not education. I understand that each state has its own licensing laws, which makes these types of conversations tricky, but there is much an unlicensed social worker can do. For example you do not need to be licensed to do community organizing or policy analysis. By and large licensing covers direct practice so if a title protection law states that only a licensed social worker can use the title they could be throwing numerous educated social workers under the bus.
I'm going to toss a question out there. What if title protection does not actually help increase the number of social work jobs? As you mentioned there are similar degrees and all an employer would need to do is stop using the job title social worker for those who do not meet the requirement set out in the title protection law.
Rachel,
DeleteYou bring up some very valid points and concerns in your post. In my personal opinion, I feel that only individuals with an MSW should be called "social workers". If I was a policymaker, I'd write the laws to make it as such.
You are right in that title protection for MSWs may backfire, because employers can simply hire non-social workers to do social worker type work. In that case, it'll be the responsibility of the social work field to educate the public on specific skills that are exclusive to them. Perhaps make it such that individuals who perform social work type tasks (i.e. counseling, psychosocial assessments, etc.) must be under the supervision of a social worker. By showing that our unique perspectives and practical knowledge are necessary and scarce, we can more strongly advocate for more respect, better working conditions, and improved wages.
Thank you for visiting my blog and for your comments! Please come again!
This comment is completely unrelated to your post, but as I have accidentally found your page, I am compelled to thank you for your blog. I have read a few of your posts, and intend to read more. I'll spare reciting the litany of probable shared gripes that we have on the job, but I'll point out that, like you, I work in a hospital under the department of case management. I am a licensed social worker. It has been refreshing, and even therapeutic to see that someone else is able to identify with what we deal with on a daily basis. Again, I apologize for not making a comment more applicable to the post here, but I just wanted to say thanks. I'll be reading more.
ReplyDeleteS Perry,
DeleteThank you so much for your kind comment. I'm glad that are people like you who are able to relate to my daily struggles in social work. Working in the hospital is extremely stressful, and as you know quite well it's not only because of our patients!
Thank you again!
I feel that these unemployed nurses shouldn't have to worry too much. Once they find a nursing job, they'll be able to pay back their student loans pretty easily. social work college
ReplyDelete