EXPOSURE ASSIGNMENT: WHAT I HAVE LEARNED Exposure Assignment: What I Have Learned Milisa J Van Steenis Social Work, Indiana Wesleyan University SWK 170: Introduction to Social Work Professor Jessie Pablo August 29, 2022 1 EXPOSURE ASSIGNMENT: WHAT I HAVE LEARNED 2 Exposure Assignment: What I Have Learned I interviewed Brielle Cunningham. She is a BSW, which she received from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2021. She is currently working as a medical social worker at Lee Health, which is also known as Lee Memorial Hospital, in Ft. Myers, FL. Brielle completed her 9 month internship at Cypress at Home, in Ft. Myers, FL. She worked as a client advocate and worked with the older adult population. Brielle is also currently in grad school at Florida Gulf Coast University. She is receiving her MSW. Brielle will graduate in May, 2023. Brielle stated she graduated with a 4.0 in her BSW program, and is now in the advanced track master’s degree program of social work, B. Cunningham (personal communication, August 13, 2022). Brielle is from New Jersey. She stated she was born and raised there. She had always loved Florida when on vacation, and pursued her higher education in Florida, B. Cunningham (personal communication, August 13, 2022). Brielle entered the field of social work because she had originally been in nursing school, and got to the point in school where she started doing her practicums. She saw what a great need there was for case managers and social workers. Her mom had gone through addiction, along with her younger brother. Brielle said it made her sick the way they were treated in the hospital when they would go in and asked to be medically detoxed. Brielle said she was still in high school and remembered her mom basically being kicked out of the hospital and told to go to rehab, but a rehab with her insurance would not take her until she had completed a 3-5 day detox, B. Cunningham (personal communication, August 13, 2022). Brielle worked with the older adult population during her internship. She stated she was glad she had that experience, because she found out she does not like the home health care portion of social work, and was kind of glad she could put that on the list of things she did not EXPOSURE ASSIGNMENT: WHAT I HAVE LEARNED 3 want to do, B. Cunningham (personal communication, August 13, 2022). Brielle stated a typical day for her, is never typical. It’s usually some sort of case management and/or locating resources for disadvantaged clients. She stated there is a lot of substance use, and a lot of them use the hospital for help with finding some sort of housing and food, B. Cunningham (personal communication, August 13, 2022). I got the impression that when people who are suffering from substance use are using the hospital for resources, that it was a waste of her time and resources. I really didn’t feel good in the pit of my stomach when she was saying this. She didn’t come out and say that, but that is the impression I got. I don’t think her family ever hit a bottom where they were homeless, so she has never experienced that firsthand, B. Cunningham (personal communication, August 13, 2022). Brielle stated her favorite course in her BSW program was anything psychology, because she finds the human mind very interesting. Brielle also stated that what she was hoping to achieve while she was in school was to make a difference in people’s lives and make their lives better. She said now that she is actually in a position as a medical social worker, the work she does is a lot harder than she thought it would be to make a difference in people’s lives and make the live better. She also said that it takes a lot longer than she thought it would to be able to make things happen for people most times. She said this is because there are so many people in society, especially in the at risk population and people living in poverty, so the resources are more scarce, B. Cunningham (personal communication, August 13, 2022). Brielle stated when she has a complacent client, she stays on them. She follows up regularly. Brielle said complacent clients sometimes are just very overwhelmed and sort of bury their hand in the sand so as not to deal with it. She also said sometimes they just need a harder push than most people, B. Cunningham (personal communication, August 13, 2022). Brielle EXPOSURE ASSIGNMENT: WHAT I HAVE LEARNED 4 admitted that poverty is tough, and she thinks we just need a complete overhaul on our system. She said the system is broken, and she doesn’t have all the answers, but she can say with certainty that this system does not work for the extreme majority of citizens, B. Cunningham (personal communication, August 13, 2022.) I am concerned for Brielle, because when I brought up self-care, she said she really does not have time to do anything for herself, really. She’s so focused on keeping a 4.0 in her MSW program, just like she did in her BSW, that she will give up time for self-care. I know, from personal experience, if you do not take time out for yourself and recharge your batteries, your whole system will end up shutting down, B. Cunningham (personal communication, August 13, 2022). The last question that I had planned on asking Brielle also concerned me. I got a strange reaction at first. Maybe she was not expecting such an intrusive question, but I know this happens, that clients will try to manipulate their social workers or care managers to take focus off of themselves or get something they want. Brielle just looked into the screen so strangely, and paused, and then said yes, she has had people try to get her to give them rides and money and even supplies from the hospital. She said there are items that are for the clients, but this was value and could easily be sold. Brielle then paused. I thought she was finished talking about it and she said; it was a tablet, B. Cunningham (personal communication, August 13, 2022). I repeated the second part of the question, which was how did she handle that situation, she said you have to be firm, and let them know from the beginning of them trying to ask for something or a ride or money, that you will not do that because it is completely against the rules. She said she tries to make them see that this is an old behavior that they need to purge and get rid of, because it will do nothing but cause them setbacks. Brielle said manipulation is a behavior that can lead them back to the situation, if it is addiction, will lead them back to the streets, or back to EXPOSURE ASSIGNMENT: WHAT I HAVE LEARNED 5 negative, unhealthy habits. I asked Brielle if she documented any of this when it happened, because to me, it would be more than appropriate for this to be on record. If the client gets another social worker, and they are new, or naïve, they may do something unethical. Brielle stated she did not document it, because she believed the client understood he and his girlfriend would not be getting money, rides, or electronics from the hospital, B. Cunningham (personal communication, August 13, 2022). I seriously disagree with her stopping at just the conversation she had with the client and his girlfriend. I just think it could be a disaster waiting to happen. If she does not document, she is not covering herself from a client’s accusations, and she is also not protecting the other social workers by having it in their charts to be read as an alert or something that stands out. I just really disagree, and it made me feel uncomfortable about the situation. I processed my feelings of discomfort, by telling myself that the NASW code of ethics is a guideline, and it is essentially Brielle’s choice how to handle it. She is the social worker and the case manager for that client, for the time being. I also used it as a teaching moment for myself that I would always do my due diligence to document situations like that to cover myself and any future social worker that has contact with that client in the future. The only other internal conflict I had during the interview was the way she vocalized addicts using the hospital for their resources. I told myself that each person has a different experience, and Brielle’s differed from mine. That may be why she felt that way. I reconciled my feelings with adding her to my prayer list. I prayed God will open her eyes that these people need help, and if they can get out of the cold with hospital resources, that is a good thing. She said herself that resources are scarce and our clients have it really hard right now, especially those recently released from incarceration and those suffering from addiction. I felt better knowing that I left it in God’s hands. I gave the situation to God, and it was no longer mine to worry or stress about. EXPOSURE ASSIGNMENT: WHAT I HAVE LEARNED 6 What I learned was that I would be very interested in working as a medical social worker. It seems very interesting working with people from all walks of life and from all classes. Each person presents with a different set of problems. I know myself; I need that variety in my work life. I believe Brielle really cares for her clients and based on the experiences Brielle has had in her life; she is doing the best that she can. I think she needs to get out into the community and see the homeless population, maybe deliver blankets or meals, or whatever the need is. That would be good for her to be forced to look at them and see they are real people, and they need real help. Now that I have completed my exposure assignment, and I have learned more about the social work field, I still definitely want to become a social worker. I believe this is my calling; I feel this is where God has lead me. I think he allowed me to go through some things I went through during my addiction because I was not serving God when I got addicted to pain pills. Whether I had broken my ankle, I had no support system, and it got out of hand so quickly. The other reason I believe he allowed me to go through addiction and go as far down as I did, with homelessness, losing my family (they still have not spoken to me since 2010), and losing my kids to the foster care system in 2013 when they were 13 and 14. They aged out, and I did not see them again until they were 18 and 19, after they graduated from high school, God allowed me to go through all of that so I know what it is like, and I can be a social worker to many types of people with a variety of needs and issues. This is definitely want I want to do for the rest of my working career. I cannot wait!
