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Oncology social work skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted experts
Michael Kiener Ph.D.,
Dr. Dianna Cooper
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical oncology social work skills. We ranked the top skills for oncology social works based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 25.9% of oncology social work resumes contained social work as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an oncology social work needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 oncology social work skills for your resume and career

1. Social Work

Here's how oncology social works use social work:
  • Developed and implemented social work services within a private practice setting Brief treatment and ongoing medical case management and advocacy
  • Represented oncology social work department on various committees assisting in developing social work role within growing cancer program.

2. Patients

Here's how oncology social works use patients:
  • Provided brief strategic and crisis counseling for patients and families experiencing acute psychiatric or psychological distress during the treatment process.
  • Provided psycho-social assessments for the in-patient oncology patients which included counseling and brokering of resources in the community.

3. 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 oncology social works use patient care:
  • Assessed discharge planning needs & coordinated necessary services to ensure quality patient care upon discharge.
  • Collaborated with physicians, nursing, and administration regarding patient care and throughput.

4. Crisis Intervention

Here's how oncology social works use crisis intervention:
  • Facilitated support group, education, financial assistance, resource education, discharge planning, crisis intervention and community referrals.
  • Provided oncology-related support services, grief counseling, therapeutic support and crisis intervention.

5. Multidisciplinary

Here's how oncology social works use multidisciplinary:
  • Collaborated with multidisciplinary team to provide necessary referrals and counseling to achieve established patient goals.
  • Worked together with multidisciplinary team members to facilitate family conferences and develop treatment plans.

6. Mental Health

Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.

Here's how oncology social works use mental health:
  • Conducted Psycho-social assessments in order to determine patient mental health and clinical needs related to cancer diagnosis.
  • Review medical reports, psychological evaluations and other professional assessments, and make referrals to appropriate medical and mental health services.

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7. MSW

Here's how oncology social works use msw:
  • Served as an UNCC Field Instructor MSW and BSW program.
  • Collaborated with MSW colleague and delivered a bullying psycho-education workshop for parents of students experiencing behavioral problems.

8. Social Services

Here's how oncology social works use social services:
  • Provide medical social services for 32-bed adult inpatient oncology unit.
  • Provided referrals to social services and assisted clients in acquiring resources, housing, and financial support.

9. Home Health

Here's how oncology social works use home health:
  • Arranged for home health care services including nursing and equipment.
  • Collaborated with home health and medical supply companies in resolving patient's psychosocial and physical needs.

10. Support Services

Support services are services that support the organization internally and are usually non-revenue generating. Examples include, IT, admin, HR, etc.

Here's how oncology social works use support services:
  • Provided referral and access to financial assistance, legal aid, community resources and social support services.
  • Deliver support services and resources to families whose children had been diagnosed with cancer.

11. Medical Oncology

Here's how oncology social works use medical oncology:
  • Provide general casework services to the medical oncology service.

12. Community Agencies

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

Here's how oncology social works use community agencies:
  • Interacted closely with representatives from community agencies and insurance providers.
  • Make referrals to other public and private organizations, community agencies and resources to meet the family needs.

13. Psycho-Social Assessments

Here's how oncology social works use psycho-social assessments:
  • Facilitated psycho-social assessments Conducted educational meetings.
  • Conducted culturally competent bio-psycho-social assessments.

14. Emotional Support

At its core, emotional support involves providing support, reassurance, acceptance, love, and encouragement. It is especially important in a time of stress/sadness as it stabilizes an individual and provides a positive foundation for trust. Honing this skill is important for individuals who want to pursue the career of caregivers and emotional support nurses. Their job includes monitoring mental health and helping patients to handle any mental challenge.

Here's how oncology social works use emotional support:
  • Provided emotional support counseling through all aspects of treatment and recovery.
  • Provided emotional support to families at time of death of veterans.

15. 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 oncology social works use community resources:
  • Maintained a working knowledge of community resources, directing patient/family/caregivers to such resources as appropriate, including financial assistance as indicated
  • Provided families with case management, supportive counseling, bereavement counseling and community resources in Hematology/Oncology care area.
top-skills

What skills help Oncology Social Works find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on oncology social work resumes?

Michael Kiener Ph.D.Michael Kiener Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Professor of Rehabilitation Counseling, Maryville University

Regardless if you are counseling in person or virtually effective professionals will need to develop empathetic therapeutic relationships with their clients. Rehabilitation counselors that have experience working with post-traumatic stress and other forms of trauma will be highly valuable. The increased use of working remotely will require individuals to develop new technology skills and rehabilitation counselors who can work independently will be successful. Finally, volunteering, participation in professional organizations, and internships will help make individuals stand out when applying for jobs.

What soft skills should all oncology social works 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 oncology social works?

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 oncology social work 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 oncology social works need?

Samantha Fletcher Ph.D.Samantha Fletcher Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Executive Director, National Association of Social Workers, New York State

The core skills of social work do not change over time. These skills include empathy, active listening, critical thinking, assessment, intervention, evaluation, advocacy, policy analysis, and adaptability. Social workers also need to evaluate the organizations they work in to assess for oppressive practices and policies. One of the profession's core values is social justice, which directs social workers to "pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers' social change efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and other forms of social injustice" (National Association of Social Workers, 2017). As a profession, social workers aim to dismantle racist, sexist, heterosexist, xenophobic, ableist, classist, and religiously biased systems and structures.

What technical skills for an oncology social work stand out to employers?

William WestonWilliam Weston LinkedIn profile

Professor, Centre College

The ability to write clearly and think critically. The deep sense that other people in other cultures, and other positions in our own culture, see the world differently, enabling students to respond to a broad range of people appropriately.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about oncology social work

List of oncology social work skills to add to your resume

Oncology social work skills

The most important skills for an oncology social work resume and required skills for an oncology social work to have include:

  • Social Work
  • Patients
  • Patient Care
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Multidisciplinary
  • Mental Health
  • MSW
  • Social Services
  • Home Health
  • Support Services
  • Medical Oncology
  • Community Agencies
  • Psycho-Social Assessments
  • Emotional Support
  • Community Resources
  • Ethics
  • Financial Assistance
  • Rehabilitation
  • Compassion
  • Cancer Diagnosis
  • Social Security
  • Group Therapy
  • Community Outreach
  • Hematology
  • Oncology
  • Program Development
  • Financial Resources
  • Community Services
  • Chemotherapy
  • Nursing Home
  • Medicaid
  • Medical Equipment
  • Community Referrals
  • Mental Illness
  • BSW
  • Crisis Management
  • Chronic Illness
  • DME
  • Adult Protective
  • Substance Abuse
  • Community Education
  • American Cancer Society

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
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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