My Bassakward Group

My Bassakward Group

Friday, February 06, 2009

how many years will it take?

before you read this blog, please know that this blog is not meant to offend anyone or their profession...

today's thought is "how many years will it take?" now the reason this question comes up is because of my profession - social work. understand that social work began in the late 19th century - we are in the 21st century. so you see this is not a profession that was born overnight, we have had many years to perfect our practice and we also have to go to school to earn that diploma and license that is required to practice. the problem with social work is that you cannot touch or see what we do. you cannot measure what we do - unless you weigh the amount of paperwork the government requires. nurses give shots and pills, doctors "fix" things, teachers teach people, physical therapists teach people to walk again, preachers preach...get the picture.

all of this brings up the one statement that absolutely sends me over the edge. this just happened to be the week that it was the "hot statement". drum roll please..."you are not clinical." Webster's defines clinical as:

clin⋅i⋅cal   /ˈklɪnɪkəl/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [klin-i-kuhl] Show IPA Pronunciation

–adjective 1. pertaining to a clinic.
2. concerned with or based on actual observation and treatment of disease in patients rather than experimentation or theory.
3. extremely objective and realistic; dispassionately analytic;

diseases are not just communicable diseases...there are mental health diseases, Alzheimer's disease, PTSD,

can any of the above mentioned professions that you can see and touch what they do treat any of this? are any of the above mentioned professions trained to treat this? NO NO NO. Furthermore, these issues are treated in a clinic setting, i observe people to formulate a treatment plan, i analyze information that is given to me through medical records and battery of tests that i administer to my patients; therefore, according to the definition of Webster himself, I AM CLINICAL.

now most of you may wonder why i am on such a soap box. if i have been questioned once this week about my judgement in a situation related to the psychosocial needs of my residents i have been questioned a hundred. i don't mind people asking me questions or giving suggestions, but i am sick and tired of people telling me i am not clinical. what this translates to is, no offense anyone, but "you are not a nurse or doctor." it makes one feel as though what they bring to the table is not important and is not respected. i went to school just as long as other people and longer than some to be trained at what i do. it is not something i just pulled out of my butt...i just wish people would realize that just because you can't see or touch what someone does, does not mean that it is not important and play an integral part in the term that healthcare loves so much - "interdisciplinary team." so my question is how many years will it take before social workers are respected and treated as equals? anybody got any ideas

now that is off my chest, i hope everyone has a great week!

1 comment:

becky said...

are psychologists clinical? or are they only clinical if they dispense meds? i know one summer i had the same patient at the hospital alllll summer and one of the things i used on my care plan was continuity of care. well, don't you provide that with your job? you make sure they get continuity of care? seems clinical to me.