Member of the ICU and Post ICU Family Support Social Work team. Provides supportive counseling to patients and families to help them adjust to the psychosocial impact of critical illness and communicates information and recommendations to the interdisciplinary team as needed.


Principal Accountabilities:

1. Assess the psycho-social needs of the patient and family and develop a care plan in concert in with patient, physicians, providers, nurses and other members of the interdisciplinary team.

2. Provide supportive counseling and or crisis intervention to patients and their families via a trauma informed approach. Assist with identification and teaching of coping strategies and provide relevant psychoeducation.

3. Provide emotional support during goals of care discussions and assist with the emotional processing of end-of-life decision making via anticipatory and acute grief support. 

4. Advocate for the needs of patients and families including assessing and reporting abuse or neglect to relevant agencies.

5. Enhance communication with the multidisciplinary team via coordination and support during patient family meetings.

6.Provide assessment and counseling for children and teenagers surrounding a family member’s critical illness including visit preparation as needed. Provide guidance to their adult caregivers regarding how to provide developmentally appropriate support and information. 

7. Link patients/family to the appropriate community resources including support groups, outpatient counseling, and other community services and agencies.

8. Document patient/family assessment, interventions, observations and progress in medical records.

9. Assist with recruitment of patients for support group. 

10. Provide education to multidisciplinary team on the psychosocial needs of patients and families experiencing Critical Illness and Post ICU Syndrome. 

11. Participate in relevant unit or departmental meetings and maintain affiliations with national collaboratives. 

15. Perform other duties as assigned.