Qualities of a Great Social Worker

Wanted: Compassionate professionals who are effective communicators, skillful problem-solvers and agents of social change. If that’s you, earning a master’s in social work can help you learn how to best use those traits to empower clients as a medical social worker, mental health therapist or school social worker — or in dozens of other career roles.

What Are Social Worker Qualities?
We all have our own unique personalities, but there are some broad traits that people who choose this helping profession may share. The best social workers are:

• Communicators
  Social workers use well-developed communication skills in direct and indirect roles. They talk with children and adults individually, and in groups. They make presentations to legislative bodies and community groups. They write policy and advocacy reports. Spoken or written, their words inspire, empower, challenge and heal. As effective communicators, social workers are also good listeners.
• Problem-Solvers 
  Social workers are problem-solving superheroes. They help clients find services related to healthcare, food and housing. They create plans to help children overcome obstacles in school. They find specialized professionals, like trauma social workers or medical social workers, to meet clients’ needs. They know how and where to find resources, ideas and answers.
• Compassionate
  Working with some of the nation’s most vulnerable people, social workers empathize with their clients and the challenges they’re facing. But compassion takes it a step further. These caring professionals have a desire to help — and do. “Social work is a profession for those with a strong desire to help improve people’s lives,” the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) writes on its website. “Social workers assist people by helping them cope with issues in their everyday lives, deal with their relationships, and solve personal and family problems.”¹ 
• Ethical
  NASW’s Code of Ethics, comprehensive and specific, outlines the standards social workers are lawfully required to meet, as well as those it says they should aspire to meet. Under the NASW code, social workers have ethical responsibilities to clients, to colleagues, in practice settings, as professionals, to the social work profession, and to society as a whole. All social workers must uphold the law, and great social workers strive to meet “aspirational” standards, too.² 
   

How to Become a Social Worker
You can prepare for career advancement, or a new career path, by earning a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from Chamberlain University. In this MSW program, you’ll complete your 

coursework online and participate in a practicum where you’ll use what you’ve learned in a real-life social work setting. 

Chamberlain’s online MSW degree program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Commission on Accreditation. CSWE accreditation of a master’s social work program indicates that it meets or exceeds criteria for the assessment of program quality evaluated through a peer review process.

Social work is a fast-growing career field with diverse opportunities,³ and Chamberlain’s online degree program prepares students for generalist or specialized practice. It also offers MSW tracks that let you customize your coursework to meet your professional goals. Choose Crisis and Response Interventions, Trauma, or Medical Social Work. 

Every March, Chamberlain University commemorates Social Work Month to thank the advocates, counselors and social justice champions for their dedication and many contributions. Bring your social worker qualities to an MSW degree program that provides the tools you need to advance your career or join the ranks of these life-changing professionals. 

Chamberlain University, an accredited institution, offers bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and certificate programs in nursing and healthcare professions. With a growing network of campuses and robust online programs, Chamberlain continues to build on more than 130 years of excellence in preparing extraordinary healthcare professionals.

¹Source: www.socialworkers.org/News/Facts/Social-Workers
²Source: www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English
³Source: www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-workers.htm#tab-1
 

By Kathy Little