IMPLICATIONS OF VICARIOUS TRAUMA IN MEDICAL SOCIAL WORKERS

• Main Author: Mora, Erika
• Format: Others
• Published: CSUSB ScholarWorks 2018
• Subjects: Vicarious Trauma; Medical Social Workers; Social Work
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/730; https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1800&context=etd

Medical Social Workers are placed in fast pace environments with little time to process their feelings after being exposed to their client’s traumatic stories. The study assessed the implications of vicarious trauma on medical social workers and its impact on client outcomes. The current study utilizes a sample of 20 medical social workers employed in hospital settings across San Bernardino County. Social Work personnel were asked to take The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, which measurements are most congruent to the DSM-5 criteria of Secondary Traumatic Stress. To assess the relationship between Secondary Trauma and demographic characteristics of the social worker, an ANOVA and Post-Hoc test were conducted on SPSS to analyze data. This study will assist social workers in recognizing implications to their vicarious trauma and seek intervention before it manifests into their patient relationship. Policies that require social workers to be evaluated for vicarious traumatization would be advantageous and decrease turnover rates among medical social work.