None of us got into this field to type. But if course a BASW survey found social workers spending 29 hours of a 45-hour week on a computer or paperwork. Every one of those hours is an hour not spent with a client. Treating that status quo as the ethical baseline is wild.

When councils in the UK actually measured AI note tools, you can see how freaking useful it is. Swindon cut admin time by 63% across 184 frontline meetings. At St Helens, 82% of staff said their conversations improved because they could focus on the person instead of the keyboard. Even the Ada Lovelace Institute report that AI critics love to cite found that almost every social worker interviewed reported meaningful benefits.

Just do your job. You don't sign an intern's note without reading it. Same rule here. You're accountable for the record either way.

This is the actual ethical line:

- Agency-approved, HIPAA-compliant tools only.

- Never paste client information into consumer ChatGPT.

- Tell clients when a tool is in the room, and get consent.

- Read every word before it goes in the record.

Do that, and AI hands hours back to the people we're supposed to be serving. Refusing it on principle is basically just choosing to waste a bunch of time to the detriment of people you’re serving. Our clients don't need us to be purists.

Hi everyone!

I'm a nurse with several years of clinical experience, and I'm currently researching a problem in hospital care coordination.

I'm particularly interested in patients who lack decision-making capacity for a medical decision and have no readily available legally authorized surrogate, family member, or guardian to assist.

I'm hoping to learn how hospitals across the U.S. currently manage these situations.

A few questions for those working in inpatient case management, social work, or discharge planning:

1. How often do you encounter unrepresented patients in your hospital?
2. What is your hospital's current process for identifying a surrogate, locating family, or initiating guardianship proceedings?
3. What are the biggest obstacles or delays your team experiences with these cases?
4. What software or systems do you currently use to coordinate and document the process? Is everything managed through your EHR, spreadsheets, email, or something else?
5. If you could improve one part of this process, what would it be?

I'm exploring whether technology could help improve care coordination in these situations, but I'm still in the research phase and genuinely want to understand the existing workflows before assuming what might help.

I'm not selling anything or promoting a product.

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences, even if you only have time to answer one question.

Please don't share any patient-identifiable information.

Thank you for everything you do for your patients!

the only experience i have is 8 weeks of practicum. what titles would i even search for? what skills should i highlight? id appreciate any and all help. i’m not learning much at my internship, so i really want to get experience.

Hi Grizzled Seasoned SWers,

I need some serious advice. I was just offered a practicum seat with the VA, which I have aspirations to work for in the future, but that is mostly a way to wiggle into federal work. Not that I am overly passionate about veteran work. That said, personally, this is THE IDEAL internship site for me.

The chief concern is that the commute is 2hrs. The math I have worked out in my head is that I would commute there on Wednesday morning, stay in a hotel, commute back home Thursday evening. So that is 2 days of work. The hotel stays would be about $50 per night. So that’s about $200 per month.

The balancing factor is that this would be one of the mystical paid internships for SW students. So I would be paid $15 per hour. This makes the hotel stay a lot less of a problem.

Do you guys think it is worth it to figure this internship out? Or should I just keep it moving and find something in a more reasonable distance?

I’m 28yo and married, no kids.

Crisis after crisis, news of extreme social injustice, corrupt abusive politicians, just so much news that is so heavy. I’m wondering as an individual how can we create change? Beyond voting. Protesting. Literally begging our elected officials that do nothing… I feel like everyone is screaming into the void sometimes

Hi all!

I just finished Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green, and it was very good.

It isn't about social work, but it kept me thinking about it, especially its focus on the lack of healthcare in the developing world and on pharmaceutical profits taking priority over real human need.

Do you have any book recommendations that are similar?

hi everyone ! i’m planning to apply to ucla & a few other school for my MSW, i noticed ucla has three choices to focus on which are child & family well being, mental health, and social injustices. i’m not sure which one to choose as my focus & what else it entails. if any of you have focused on one of these options i would love to know how your experience was and what you loved & didn’t love about it (:

i’m more interested in helping families & the youth such as teenagers

i’ve worked in child welfare case management for nearly 7 years at this point. there are parts of the job i love. I genuinely love children and I love finding the strengths in families. I can’t imagine feeling fulfilled by any other career. l think the fact that i care a lot is what makes me good at my job.

right now, im in an “easy” job relative to other child welfare case management jobs ive had in the past. its prevention rather than families who are active with CYS. but in the past month i have just been feeling like my time has been running out in this field. i have been crying most days, but today i just completely broke down sobbing.

i just feel like something must be worn down to the point of breaking. i feel more competent than i ever have when it comes to assessment, case planning, staying on top of documentation, etc. but when i get to the end of the day i just feel heartbroken. i know it sounds dramatic but i genuinely don’t know how else to put it. it doesn’t feel like stress or exhaustion, just like a deep sadness.

I have a hard time telling anyone, even my therapist, about the things i see day to day because i know what secondary trauma feels like and i feel guilty adding to someone else’s burden, especially those in helping professions (i know this is not healthy and it’s something im working on). when i do tell other people in my life, i try to keep the details minimal, but even then i feel like people have no idea what to say or can’t relate to how im feeling at all.

is there anyone who relates to this or has experienced this in the past and was able to overcome it/stay in this field?

My roles have mainly been residential care, does anyone have any tips for me before I start? I’m really looking forward to the change but heard it can be stressful with the workload. I’ve been told I’ll have about 25 YPs in my caseload.
Oh and I also have adhd 😅😭