How To Become A Nursing Home Social Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a nursing home social worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Debra Minsky-Kelly

Nursing home social workers work assist elderly or disabled people living in group home facilities. They take care a wide range of responsibilities, from assessing patients for admission to counseling and therapy, down to performing administrative tasks.

Working in this position, you will evaluate the life situation of patients looking to get admitted to the facility, collecting information about their medical history and family background to determine if you are able to provide the help they need. You will contribute to creating treatment plans and provide counseling for groups as well as one-on-one therapy sessions, to combat social isolation or depression the patients might go through.

A degree and experience in social work are most likely required if you want to work as a nursing home social worker. Empathy and patience are key personal skills you will need to have, as well as a love for people and a passion for making a difference in others' lives. Your monetary rewards for filling this role will be around $20.45 per hour, summing up to $42,544 a year on average.

What general advice would you give to a nursing home social worker?

Debra Minsky-Kelly

Director of Field Education / Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work, Carthage College

I think there are two critical skills for social workers, whether they are first entering the workforce or seasoned professionals. These skills are humility and an appreciation for ambiguity in our work. A humble approach to our work empowers clients to become experts on their circumstances. Social workers are then positioned in a collaborative role to help clients use existing skills and resources to improve their situations. An appreciation for ambiguity is closely related to the idea of humility. It helps us to remember that practice situations we face in this field are often far more complicated than they appear on the surface. Thus, all social workers need to make a strong commitment to lifelong learning and ongoing consultation with colleagues to ensure that multiple perspectives are included as we work to solve complex problems.

ScoreNursing Home Social WorkerUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,130

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.4

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.60%

Asian 3.32%

Black or African American 19.92%

Hispanic or Latino 12.27%

Unknown 5.43%

White 58.45%

Gender

female 83.13%

male 16.87%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

9.4

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.5

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a nursing home social worker

Explore nursing home social worker education requirements

Most common nursing home social worker degrees

Bachelor's

53.3 %

Master's

33.3 %

Associate

5.3 %

Start to develop specific nursing home social worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Social Work	49.78%
Nursing Home	26.78%
Care Plan	8.08%
MDS	6.73%
Discharge Planning	3.04%

Complete relevant nursing home social worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New nursing home social workers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a nursing home social worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real nursing home social worker resumes.

Research nursing home social worker duties and responsibilities

Assist resident and families with Medicaid applications, as well as, assist with Medicare.
Assist residents with Medicaid applications and coordinate related appointments.
Counsele veterans and Medi-Cal clients individually to provide behavioral interventions in order to address their anxiety, depression and anger.
Conduct unannounce alternating monthly visits with CNH and monthly visits with RCH.

Prepare your nursing home social worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your nursing home social worker resume.

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