Essay Example on Social Work Practice: My Internship Experience

Introduction

Social work practice is an important facet of a nation since it addresses the challenges that affect harmonious and peaceful living in individuals, families and the community at large. Generalist social workers address broad issues even when focused on an individual client to get a wide picture of the root cause of a problem (Zastrow, 2016). Therefore, social work educators put emphasis on the importance of internship for students to gain experience in the field of study. As such, I interned at the City of Austin Integral Care where I dealt with real-life problems facing the society in Austin. The experience was thrilling because I worked on a case on Kyle, a teenage alcoholic indulging in shoplifting and smoking marijuana. In the process, I realize that social work strives to strengthen human functioning while nurturing the structures of society.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Summary of Experiences

The Austin Integral Care has enriched the services of community-based behavioral health and developmental disabilities for residents of Travis County in Austin. It was an honor for me to intern at the City of Austin Integral Care because the experience nurtured my career path. It was a great opportunity because I was able to apply knowledge learned in class into the actual practice of social work. Social work is extremely important especially in helping the community meet some of the health and mental challenges people experience. Mental health challenges and developmental disabilities have become critical obstacles preventing individuals and families lead a satisfying life. The challenges are financially, emotionally, and psychologically exhausting to individuals and families (Zastrow, 2016). At the facility, I engaged with numerous families and patients with the hope of recovery upon receiving care. The Austin Integral Care has professional staff with high expertise in behavioral health and developmental disabilities. Working among these experts nurtured my professional code of conduct. In social work, practitioners deal with people from diverse backgrounds. As a result, social work practitioners are expected to treat patients fairly without any form of discrimination whatsoever (Zastrow, 2016). With this note, I managed to interact with people from different ethnicities and I showed respect to the diversity of human nature. I gained the experience of handling people from diverse backgrounds while making sure not to stereotype their cultural influences.

The Austin Integral Care provides patients with the right medication, treatment options and therapy to its patients. In particular, social workers at the institution who file paperwork for affected children, adolescents, adults, and families were very caring and supportive to people in need of care. Interacting with them instilled the discipline and principles vital for dealing with people in need of mental health and disability care. Successful practitioners in social work, nursing, and medicine must show love and compassion to their patients and show innate discipline and commitment to ensure patient-centered care. During my internship, I learned that the quality of care is essential to ensure improved patient and family satisfaction. At the reception department, I realized that patients and family need to be welcomed warmly to create a loving atmosphere that shows professionalism with respect to care. It was a fulfilling industrial attachment that equipped me with skills vital for future work placement.

Summary of Significant Experiences

During my first week as an intern, my supervisor assigned me the duty of registering volunteers. The aim of the task was to equip me with the knowledge of registering patients and feeding the information the electronic health records (EHR). EHR is a vital component of providing care because it minimizes cost on paperwork and storage. Computer-generated databases make it easier for physicians, nurses and all health practitioners to retrieve patient information as fast as possible. Therefore, at the institution, I engaged with volunteers who came from various professions. Some were students while others were seeking part-time volunteer work to give back to the societies. My supervisor taught me that volunteers are essential in keeping the facility learning by avoiding staff burnout especially when there is an influx of patients. After dealing with volunteers, I assigned the task of registering patients in the children and adolescent division. I learned that accurate family and patient history data is crucial in guiding the medical staff in providing care in line with the mission and vision of the institution. For instance, accurate patient data such as previous medical records help care-givers to issue proper treatment and therapy to patients.

The internship requirement mandated me to learn how all departments in the institution work to have a clear picture and experience in dealing with patients with a mental disorder, substance abuse, and developmental disabilities. After spending one-week registering volunteers and patients, I was assigned the task of dealing with workshop presenters. The facility organizes workshops that issue training on mental health and developmental challenges as well as creating awareness in the community. During breakout sessions, I worked with workshop presenters prepare their material and provide assistance whenever they needed my help. In addition, I interacted with social work volunteers especially by the checking in those who were presenting during exhibitions. Closely related to this task, I participated in pre-conference community outreach to help residents of Travis County. The experience equipped me with management skills such as planning, controlling and coordination of various tasks. Most importantly, having worked across all departments, I finally settled in the social work division. This was the core of my internship whereby I was to work on real cases as elaborated below.

Social History and Service Plan

Case Narrative

Kyle is a 16-year old teenage boy from Austin, Texas, who has been consuming alcohol for the last two years. Due to his drinking behavior, the school administration could not tolerate his actions. His parents Joe and Claire had been informed about his bad behavior and had been forewarned that their son could be expelled from school if he did not change. Kyle was suspended from school a year ago at 15 and has been unemployed since then. His parents are concerned that their son has been charged with possession of marijuana and shoplifting due to his heavy drinking behavior.

Family History

Joe and Claire are well-educated parents. Joe has an undergraduate degree in Accounting while Claire is an early childhood educator. Having come from educated parents as well, Joe and Claire are worried about their son Kyle and why he turned out to be so different from them. Kyle's parents value education and have been talking to their son each day reminding him about the purpose of studying.

Medical Problem

Kyle has been addicted to alcohol consumption for the last two years. However, he does not admit that he constantly buys liquor or uses some that are kept at home. On the other hand, Joe moderately drinks beer at home after work but he is not alcohol dependent. However, Joe states that his further was an alcoholic and is worried that alcohol abuse is a genetic affair. Other than that, the family does not have any serious medical condition. Alcoholism is the major challenge that they would want their son to receive rehab and counseling for a better life.

Housing

Kyle's family does not have financial problems. The family owns a home in the suburbs of Austin, 10 minutes drive from the city. In fact, Kyle comes from a middle-income family that has a rich history in Austin.

Analysis

Based on the above case scenario, it is evident that Kyle seriously needs help. At sixteen years of age, he is too young to be an alcoholic. At his age, he should be busy studying for a bright future just like his parents. The biggest challenge is that Kyle abuses alcohol. Heavy consumption of alcohol alters an individual's thinking capacity. Furthermore, overreliance on alcohol leads to negative life outcomes (Zastrow, 2016). Kyle has been charged with shoplifting and possession of marijuana. When I asked about his friends, Kyle stated that his "buddies" are 'cool' kids. However, his parents reported that he has been hanging around with older youths with indulgence in the same behavior. Nevertheless, Kyle denies influential peer pressure from his friends. As such, Kyle needs immediate rehabilitation and medication to eliminate the need for alcohol. It is unfortunate that his parents live with sorrow yet they have provided Kyle with the resources to advance in life. If Kyle is not helped at this tender age, we could lose the life of a young boy who has a long life ahead of him. In fact, drug abuse and offending could shorten his lifespan.

Conclusion

In conclusion, social work practice helps individuals to unleash their potential and contribute to the collective good of the community. Therefore, it entails creating social changes by helping individuals strengthen their competence (Zastrow, 2016). My internship at the Austin Integral Care equipped me with first-hand knowledge and experience about social work. I managed to work on a case on Kyle, an alcoholic teenager suspended from school. The experience taught me how practitioners engage with patients or clients to evaluate the challenges that prevent social functioning. Working in the case was an amazing experience that motivated me to attain social work excellence and help my community.

Reference

Zastrow, C.H. (2016). Generalist Social Work Practice: A Work text. (6th ed.).Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books, Inc.