Rural clinical social work practice: Self-care and compassion fatigue prevention.

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to summarize my practicum experience at the Central Miramichi Community Health Centre in Doaktown, New Brunswick. The Central Miramichi Community Health Centre is the main healthcare facility in the area servicing the population of Doaktown, Boiestown, and other surrounding rural areas. The rural location of the health centre allowed me to experience rural social work practice as well as work within an interdisciplinary team. This report outlines my expectations and goals within my practicum and how my learning objectives were met through observation, discussion, and practice. In addition to creating an environment to strengthen my social work skills, my practicum allowed me to understand the difficulties and challenges that rural social workers face, such as compassion fatigue. This experience allowed me to further examine and reflect upon issues of self-care and compassion fatigue in social work and its implications for my future practice as a social worker. iii