Emphasizing social workers’ wellbeing is significant, given the real factors of the social practice climate. All social organizations have strategies that address the security of employees, the board, and the organization, as well as customers. Almost 90% of 1,029 surveyed social workers reported encountering mental aggression in the course of their careers (Ringstad, 2005). Thus, consideration regarding security in the working environment can reduce burnout and help with staff maintenance.
Social laborers are in danger of becoming victims due to the character of their work. This is because social worker’s clients often experience psychological issues (Regehr & Glansy, 2011). The first step is to prevent the incident by creating policies which protect both the social worker and the client (Media Laureate Education, 2013). Before beginning the internship, the agency can send a reasonable message that assault against workers brings serious consequences.
In the field education experience, the worker should construct plans of reaching law enforcement and setting the agreement with the local police office (Garthwait, 2017). Adult medical care facilities require their interns to communicate about any concerning issue with hospital staff. Hence, the initial step towards safety of a social worker intern is prevention by warning and involving the police in the process.
It is essential to study the background of the client and inform the responsible facilities about potential dangers. The factors for aggression from clients incorporate substance misuse, a background with past fierce criminal offences, the explicitness of communicated dangers, suicidality, the presence of character issues or fancies, and social disengagement (Regehr & Glansy, 2011). The medical care safety plan also involves the constant checking of the equipment and reporting any dysfunctions (Waters et al., 2009). The interns may have to inform authorities against people with psychological illnesses who present a danger to other people.
Conflict avoidance preparation is present in organization practices and for the most part, covers physical safety measures in the workplace, during home visits, and field education experiences. Social specialists may find themselves in circumstances where they are being followed and where they might be in danger of mischief. In these cases, the worker needs to create a safety plan and policies to prevent potential harm and thoroughly investigate the portfolio of their clients. The instructions for interns in the medical field are different in that they need to follow the guidelines of hospital workers and maintain the proper working equipment.
References
Garthwait, C. L. (2017). The social work practicum: A guide and workbook for students. Pearson.
Media Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013). Safety planning. Web.
Regehr, C., & Glancy, G. D. (2011). When social workers are stalked: Risks, strategies, and legal protections. Clinical Social Work Journal, 39(3), 232–242.
Ringstad, R. (2005). Conflict in the workplace: Social workers as victims and perpetrators. Social Work, 50(4), 305–313.
Waters, T. R., Nelson, A., Hughes, N., & Menzel, N. (2009). Safe patient handling training for schools of nursing .