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Summary Social workers are an integral part of end-of-life (EOL) care interdisciplinary services and provide comprehensive psychosocial support to dying people. However, despite the rewards, EOL care social work is wrought with challenges. There is currently limited research into the experience of EOL care social workers. Therefore, this qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis (QIMS) study examines the experience of EOL care social workers as revealed in existing literature. The QIMS methodology was used to synthesize and interpret findings from four original qualitative studies to elicit an in-depth response to the research question: What is the experience of social workers who work in EOL care? Findings The theme “EOL care social work is a privilege and a struggle” emerged, with six associated contributing factors: Privilege—(1) death is sacrosanct, (2) death is an opportunity for growth and healing, and (3) the religious/spiritual element of EOL care. Struggle—(1) ongoing pain and heightened emotions, (2) conflict of values, and (3) contextual challenges. This QIMS study serves as a preliminary phase to a subsequent, larger study. Applications This QIMS study provides a foundation for further narrative research into the experience of EOL care social workers. In addition, findings from this QIMS study highlights areas for further attention to foster the well-being of EOL care social workers. Finally, findings from this QIMS study could augment relevant EOL care content in undergraduate social work education.

Mindfulness is increasingly important as a professional intervention in social work; however, little is known about how practitioners integrate a practice of eastern origins into a western context. To explore the integration of mindfulness in social work, we collected written stories from social workers who participated in two workshops in regional Australia. The participants developed their own individual written narratives about their understanding of and experience in using mindfulness, and contributed these to a larger group discussion. We identified four scenarios/plotlines within the collected stories and 'restoried' four examples of the participants' written narratives. The stories reveal that participants experience little dissonance when integrating mindfulness into their personal lives, but the process of incorporating it into their practice requires a complex negotiation between the participant's story of themselves as a practitioner of mindfulness, their 'professional story', stories of themselves as social workers and the story of social work in their professional knowledge landscape.

Social work is not an easy occupation in which to participate-whether as a service user, practitioner, or service administrator. By its very nature, all actors are likely to experience uncomfortable physical sensations, difficult emotions, mental stresses, and moral challenges. While not a panacea to combat the impact of the complex issues experienced during a social work encounter, research has established that the body is not only necessary to navigate social difference and oppression, but also crucial to social workers' wellbeing and the attainment of social justice (