Raising theTitanic: Rescuing Social Work Documentation from the Sea of Ethical Risk

Utilizing a Continuing Education Workshop to Increase Knowledge of Documentation Among Hospital Psychosocial Staff

“…However, there is limited research on the use of continuing education to improve documentation skills among social workers and other psychosocial staff (Cumming et al, 2007;Dziegielewski, Green, & Hawkins, 2002). New research on this topic will help to further examine continuing education methods as ways to increase documentation skills (Dziegielewski et al).…”

“…With only rudimentary levels of documentation skills, psychosocial staff must then maneuver through the intricacies of documentation paper work required by managed care and other hospital regulatory agencies (Callahan, 1996;Judd & Sheffield). Unfortunately, the fast pace in hospital settings does not always allow supervisors to train psychosocial staff on documentation skills (Cumming et al, 2007). Furthermore, the multiple responsibilities, complex schedules of hospital supervisors, and the need to focus on immediate patient needs may not allow for integrating documentation-related content during supervisory meetings.…”

Utilizing a Required Documentation Course to Improve the Recording Skills of Undergraduate Social Work Students

“…The studies that do exist are older and have focused on managed care issues affecting 2nd-year clinical students and field instructors (Brooks & Riley, 1996) or have examined hospital workers' recording practices (Cumming et al, 2007). A closely related study (Dziegielewski, Green, & Hawkins, 2002) used a group of professional social workers to examine the effects of a continuing education documentation workshop.…”

“…The focus on clients' privacy rights influenced documentation during the 1970s and 1980s. Those efforts included: 1) changes in the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics; 2) the Privacy Act of 1974; 3) the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act; and 4) an emphasis on risk management (Cumming et al, 2007;Kagle, 1983;Kagle & Kopels, 2008). Similarly, from the 1990s on, there was an emphasis on computer technology, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, confidentiality related revisions to the NASW Code of Ethics, and increasing accountability to regulatory agencies.…”

“…Given the uniqueness of client situations, undergraduate as well as graduate-level documentation courses also serve to provide specialized skills in recording "high-risk" situations that may include domestic violence, child abuse, and substance abuse (Rudman, 2000;Wiger). Knowing what to document and when to document client content ensures that in today's litigious society, social work students learn the value of accurate and informative client documentation that protects the social worker, the agency, and the client (Cumming et al, 2007;Reamer, 2005).…”