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

What is a renal social worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Virginia Schwindt

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a renal social worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $28.54 an hour? That's $59,367 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 64,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a renal social worker?

Virginia Schwindt

MSW Field Director/Associate Professor, Union University

Take the licensing test as soon as you are able to, and be open to where you work. It is great to want a specific population or employer, but being open to other experiences may be where God wants you to be. Don't limit yourself because, as a social worker, you can do so many different things.

ScoreRenal Social WorkerUS Average

Salary

4.6

Avg. Salary $59,367

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 89.83%

male 10.17%

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 renal social worker

Explore renal social worker education requirements

Most common renal social worker degrees

Master's

61.4 %

Bachelor's

33.1 %

Associate

3.9 %

Start to develop specific renal social worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	27.79%
Social Work	17.13%
Psychosocial Assessments	6.90%
Interdisciplinary	6.48%
MSW	5.28%

Complete relevant renal social worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New renal 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 renal social worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real renal social worker resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed renal social worker usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed renal social worker in most of states. 32 states require renal social workers to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Kansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Licensed Master Social Worker
Alabama	Degree required	State exam required	Licensed Bachelor Social Worker (LBSW)
Arkansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Licensed Certified Social Worker
Hawaii	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Licensed Social Worker
Idaho	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Social Workers

Research renal social worker duties and responsibilities

Manage caseload and complete all paperwork according to OMH guidelines.
Complete quarterly notes, attend monthly inter-disciplinary meetings, assist patients with Medicaid benefits and other renal programs.
Work as part of the IDT team
Provide supervision to MSW's.

Prepare your renal social worker resume

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

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a renal social worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable renal social worker resume templates

Build a professional renal social worker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your renal social worker resume.