The FAMCare Blog

Employee burnout exists, and according to a recent survey, 23% of full-time workers in the United States experience burnout the majority of the time during the work week. So, if you're a nonprofit leader and you notice that your case workers aren't as enthusiastic as they used to be or are falling behind in their daily tasks, it may be time to look into whether job burnout could be the issue.

While there are numerous traditional methods for motivating caseworkers, we have compiled a list of steps that social service agencies can take on their own. This is to ensure that your case managers are not neglecting themselves or their mental health while serving their communities.

Research shows that social service professionals exhibit a greater capacity for empathy than most of their contemporaries in other professions. Studies also show that this “ability to understand and share the feelings of another” is what motivates well-meaning young people to go into social work in the first place. The irony, however, is that this same capacity to “share the feelings of another” is also the primary cause of burnout among caseworkers.

Today's blog is written by guest blogger, Sharon Wagner, from Senior Friendly.  We truly appreciate her for sharing these wonderful insights for social workers to help avoid burnout.  

As a social worker, you’re dedicated to your job. You’ve chosen the path that God meant for you, and you truly love what you do. Yet it can be hard for you to set boundaries between your work and your life, which can quickly lead to burnout. If you’re struggling in your career, Global Vision Technologies has some tips to help you avoid stress and heal from burnout.

We understand that being a case manager can be extremely stressful. There is never enough time, money, or resources to complete all of your goals. And the work that you do is critical. People's lives are affected. As a result, our case management software is designed to help alleviate some of the stress in your daily workflow.

Louise, a crusty journey-woman social worker had three pairs of glasses hanging from tiny chains around her neck and a sharpened yellow number two pencil plunged into her beehive hairdo. How unlikely that this woman would teach us how to use humor in social work.

Burnout

Over the course of the 20th century, as American society became ever more complex, industrialized, urbanized, and a safe haven for the world's most vulnerable, our society gradually became more socially conscious and the case worker's burden more laden. The paperwork required for patient safety, privacy, accountability, and continuity has grown algebraically alongside documentation to secure funding. More vulnerable clients with more complex problems requiring more complex documentation have begun to overwhelm the modern caseworker and "burnout" is becoming epidemic. Social service professionals are particularly susceptible because of the high levels of empathy required by their jobs. Striving to ease the suffering of clients who are often in crisis leads to emotional and physical depletion, and case worker burnout is the primary cause of the high turnover rate in social services.

Being effective in social services necessitates excellent time management abilities. Social workers have witnessed tremendous change over the years, including changes in the frequency of work and the nature of the tasks. The number of social workers and clients has increased in recent years, as has the amount of documentation and client coordination.

One aspect that hasn't changed is the amount of time required to complete a large number of tasks. As a result, time management is essential for any social service worker. Continue reading to learn a few tips on managing your time as a social worker.

Most of us have the luxury of spending the holidays relaxing with our loved ones. But not everyone’s that lucky. Some are separated from their families; others don’t have a home to go back to. And for many, this new year doesn’t hold the normal excitement. Many have experienced another long, dreadful year due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

 And who is there for all of these vulnerable people during the holiday season? — Social workers, societies selfless care givers, of course!

Being a case manager is stressful work. The hours are long. The caseloads are heavy. Budgets are tight. And you are often dealing with people facing some of the worst moments of their lives. We have discussed in previous posts different ways that social workers can achieve case manager stress relief. In this post we look at some organizational tactics to reduce stress for your case managers.

Nobody understands your stress and how to deal with it better than those in the trenches with you. In previous blogs we have shared ideas on both physical and mental ways to create some level of case manager stress relief. But for today’s post, we talked to case managers and mental health professionals who deal with the stress of the job every day and asked them to share the best ways they find stress relief.