Despite growing interest in self-care, few studies have explicitly examined the self-care practices of healthcare social workers. This exploratory study investigated self-care among practitioners (N = 138) in one southeastern state. Overall, data suggest that healthcare social workers only moderately engaged in self-care. Additionally, analyses revealed significant differences in self-care practices by financial stability, overall health, and licensure status, respectively. Interestingly, perceived health status and current financial situation were significant predictors for overall self-care practices. After a brief review of the literature, this narrative will explicate findings, elucidate discussion points, identify salient implications, and conclude with areas for future research.

Self-care can be an important tool in assuaging professional burnout, workplace stress, vicarious or secondary trauma, and other deleterious employment circumstances. Despite this importance, few studies have examined self-care among social work practitioners. This exploratory study examined the self-care practices of self-identified social workers (N = 2,934) throughout the United States. Primary data were collected with an electronic survey. Data indicate that social workers in the sample engage in moderate self-care practices. Analyses revealed group differences in self-care by several variables including geographic locale of participants’ primary place of employment, race, educational level, and social work licensing status, among others. Significant predictors of self-care included perceived health status (self-report), education level, being a supervisor, and financial status. Overall, findings from this study indicate the need for a systemic response to improving self-care practices among social workers.

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