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Health care social worker skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Telvis Rich,

Dr. Dianna Cooper

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical health care social worker skills. We ranked the top skills for health care social workers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 26.0% of health care social worker resumes contained social work as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a health care social worker needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 health care social worker skills for your resume and career

2. Patients

Here's how health care social workers use patients:

Implemented therapeutic approaches required in care of physically, emotionally, socially, behaviorally disabled adolescents and adult patients.
Interacted extensively with patients to observe behavior patterns and encourage social development.

3. Meal Preparation

Here's how health care social workers use meal preparation:

Handle meal preparation for the patient to develop a healthy diet.
Handle meal preparation to maintain the right diet.

4. Community Resources

Community resources are a set of resources that are used in the day to day life of people which improves their lifestyle in some way. People, sites or houses, and population assistance can come under the services offered by community resources.

Here's how health care social workers use community resources:

Assisted with coordination of community resources.
Refer clients to community resources to assist in recovery and to provide access to services, such as home health services.

5. Patient Care

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

Here's how health care social workers use patient care:

Performed home evaluations/in home assessments to develop an accurate patient care/treatment plan for senior/geriatric clients.
Communicated professionally and effectively in responding to patient care needs.

6. Home Health

Here's how health care social workers use home health:

Home Health Aid-prepared meals for clients, clean, fold clothes, and spent quality time with each client.
Coordinate Nursing Home health care delivery to the aged, convalescents, invalids and disabled in their homes.

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7. Physical Therapy

Here's how health care social workers use physical therapy:

Administered medication, and prepared meals, preformed the clients personal grooming, assisted in their physical therapy.
Planned meals, physical therapy, and entertainment for patient.

8. Vital Signs

Vital signs are a set of values indicating different body systems' performance. They are measurements of the body's most basic functions. The four major vital signs used in medicine to assess a patient are body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure.

Here's how health care social workers use vital signs:

Administered medications, took vital signs daily, and documented them in the medication administered records.
Perform vital signs, assist with admissions and discharges.

9. Medicaid

Here's how health care social workers use medicaid:

Utilized government benefit programs including: Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Conducted assessments of senior citizens and provided case management and linkages to services for NJEASE clients and Medicaid Waiver Clients.

10. Discharge Planning

Here's how health care social workers use discharge planning:

Provide treatment planning, long and short term discharge planning, Crisis intervention and Brief therapy.
Provided intensive short-term psychotherapy to older adults in psychiatric inpatient and day programs, including discharge planning and community resource referrals.

11. Crisis Intervention

Here's how health care social workers use crisis intervention:

Coordinated, implemented and provided services in the home and community including crisis intervention, family/caregiver supports and skill building.
Provide crisis intervention and conduct suicide assessments where indicated.

12. Laundry Services

Here's how health care social workers use laundry services:

Supported the patient with housekeeping and laundry services.
Supported patients by providing Housekeeping and Laundry Services.

14. Developmental Disabilities

Here's how health care social workers use developmental disabilities:

Helped adults with developmental disabilities and other psychological and medical illnesses live independently by assisting them in performing daily living tasks.
Provide direct care services to individuals with intellectual disabilities/developmental disabilities, some of whom may have behavior problems and/or medical issues.

15. Community Agencies

Community agencies stand for the organizations operated to provide human service in the community.

Here's how health care social workers use community agencies:

Served as a liaison between the participant and the participant's family, primary care providers, and outside community agencies.
Leveraged an interdisciplinary approach to refer children and families to specialized services within a Head Start program and community agencies.

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What skills help Health Care Social Workers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on health care social worker resumes?

Dr. Telvis Rich

Associate Professor, Long Island University-Brooklyn

For a 21st century professional Social Worker, the following skills are essential to highlight on the resume: details of the roles, responsibilities and tasks completed during the bachelor level and/or master level Social Work practicum (internship), the interprofessional skills of working with diverse clients, communities, supervisors and colleagues during the practicum, and a clear vision of the population the applicant seeks to serve in an agency or organization. In short, today's workplace is very competitive; thus, a concise list of skills that highlight professionalism, diversity, service, competency in a practice area, and respect for others are truly essential. These required skills align to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics and employers will seek to see such on a well written resume. Further, a quality cover letter outlining the skills will enhance the resume in a competitive and ever changing Social Work marketplace.

What soft skills should all health care social workers possess?

Dr. Dianna Cooper

Associate Professor, Campbellsville University

The "change theory" used in social work practice follows several steps, including engaging, assessing, planning, intervening, evaluating, terminating, and following up. Soft skills are most likely to occur in engagement, intervention, and termination. Social workers are trained to "start wherever the client is," understanding that clients can be individuals, families, groups, communities, or organizations. Social workers are trained to respect the client as the expert in their needs, honor self-determination, use a strengths-based approach, and respect difference while using inclusion. The training turns into soft skills such as being empathetic, warm, genuine, and respectful. Social workers also develop skills in knowing when to listen and when to nudge the client toward action. Social workers are trained to intervene and, when change is completed, to terminate. Helping clients know when to end services also requires soft skills of talking about hard topics, seeing a brighter future and setting goals, recognizing when change is happening, and saying goodbye respectfully.

What hard/technical skills are most important for health care social workers?

Dr. Dianna Cooper

Associate Professor, Campbellsville University

Hard or technical skills are most likely to occur in the stages of assessing, planning, intervening, and evaluating change theory. Social workers are trained to gather lots of information and then analyze strengths and needs. Social workers present their assessments to clients and work together to create goals and the steps that reach goals when executed. The process involves using the client's vision of what "better" looks like. Social workers then use evidence-based techniques to move the client toward the goal and define measures to know when the goal is met. The technical skills used in this process include analyzing many types of information repeatedly, knowing what resources exist and how to refer, knowing how to design effective goals and steps to achieve goals, researching current evidence-based practices, defining and measuring progress, and setting limits and timeframes.

What health care social worker skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Lillian Wichinsky Ph.D.

Associate Dean, University of Nevada - Reno

The need for social workers with expertise in mental health care, school-based social work, health and substance misuse are particularly important. Sixty percent of mental health care in the US is provided by social workers and the need is growing.

What type of skills will young health care social workers need?

Chris Hennington Ph.D.

School Counseling Program Coordinator, Lubbock Christian University

School counselors will be tasked with the usual school counseling responsibilities while also encountering trauma that students experience outside of school and in school. Being well versed in trauma response is going to be a vital aspect of being a school counselor. Kids are experiencing more trauma, but we are getting better at recognizing and treating trauma as well.

Do you want to know more?

List of health care social worker skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a health care social worker resume and required skills for a health care social worker to have include:

Social Work
Patients
Meal Preparation
Community Resources
Patient Care
Home Health
Physical Therapy
Vital Signs
Medicaid
Discharge Planning
Crisis Intervention
Laundry Services
Social Services
Developmental Disabilities
Community Agencies

HIPAA
Mental Health
Healthcare
Direct Care
Bedpans
Blood Pressure
Mental Illness
Emotional Support
Medical Care
ADL
Bed Linens
Medical Appointments
Clinical Services
CPR
Veterans

Provide Emotional Support
Food Preparation
Doctor Appointments
Medication Management
Medication Administration
Independent Living
Elderly Clients
Clients Homes
Medication Reminders
Oral Medications
Healthy Meals
Groceries
Health Plan
Elderly Woman

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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