Nursing Home Social Services Reference/Introduction to Social Services/Prerequisites

Prerequisites [edit | edit source] Formal prerequisites for a social services job are fairly minimal. A degree in human services is usually sufficient. This in many places includes an associate’s degree as well as a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Experience in a nursing home as an activities assistant, CNA, volunteer or intern is helpful but rarely necessary. Being able to connect with a variety of people, to listen effectively to what is being said and what is not being said will be key. The ability to think critically, sort through data both written and verbal with a good intuition will be required to help make decisions about residents, match roommates, prepare for incipient crises, and work on support systems for residents and the facility. The ability to get around the facility and through tight spaces is required. The ability to lift and move boxes and furniture, to help residents move in and out, and between rooms may also be helpful. Some accommodations may be possible in some facilities. Your human services degree should in the below areas. These are listed in order of relevance: ·        Social Work ·        Human Services ·        Sociology / Family Studies ·        Psychology/ Mental health Counseling ·        Nursing ·        Addiction Counseling ·        Disability Studies ·        Public Health ·        Criminal or Restorative Justice ·        Office Administration / Human Resources Being able to connect with a variety of residents includes a tolerance and understanding of different cultures and how the same situation can be seen in different ways by different people. Listening clearly for differences in the viewpoints of others is a key. The concept of conscious incompetence with regard to culture should also be helpful. This is the notion that we can be knowledgeable and intuitive about our own culture and language, but should suspect and share that we are not able to do this with other cultures. It can be useful to suspend all confidence in cultural inference and give the person you are working permission to correct you or interrupt some assumption you may have made about them, or what they are saying or what they are doing. To be aware of these notions of culture and how it intrudes or clouds our awareness is a skill that you will wish to develop to avoid misunderstandings and making decisions about a resident that will not work for them or others. Working with your peers in the facility to understand that we make inferences based on our own life experience that will not necessarily fit people with other life experiences will be a contribution to a smooth-running community within your facility.