The USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work has many alumni working on the front lines in hospitals across the country. Allison Trapp (name has been changed to protect anonymity) MSW alumna, has been a social worker for almost 20 years. She works in a hospital ICU in the southern United States.

In this time of COVID, what Trapp is seeing most are people pulling together and working hard to maintain calmness. Patients and family members are frightened of the virus and unhappy because they cannot be with each other. “I think as social workers we are able to provide support and reasoning to not just the patient but the family members who often have a lot of questions and concerns,” she said.

For Trapp, the first goal of a social worker is to focus on the patients. She gets to know them, hear their stories and really pay attention to what they and their families are saying. From there she can pull the pieces together to provide the best care and support while they are in the hospital and when they are ready to go back into the community.

“Our staff is doing a wonderful job making sure that they’re providing all their needs in as safe a manner as possible,” Trapp said. Currently, she is doing assessments with patients and their family members by phone. Confirmed COVID-positive patients, and those who may be COVID-positive but still waiting for test results, are kept in isolation.

Masks are standard issue in the hospital and signs about washing hands and disinfecting are everywhere.  Many staff members have elderly family members or children who live with them so they are especially conscientious about changing scrubs, clothing and shoes before returning home.

“We’re using a lot more water but we have to because we want to make sure that we don’t spread anything to anyone in our family,” she said.

In Trapp’s city, the situation has stabilized, but everyone is on alert at the hospital in case this should change drastically. Social workers have been asked to be flexible with their schedules to assure around-the-clock coverage. Trapp hopes that they are able to maintain things at a level pace.

“We’re not like what New York is facing or New Orleans, thank goodness,” Trapp said.

Social workers provide critical support

The social workers are integral members of frontline teams at the hospital. They support the patients and their family members as well as the nurses and doctors.

“We’re the ones that have to figure out how a patient may be able to go home, what follow up needs they’re going to have and what the family members need to prepare for,” she said. “I don’t think everyone really understands what social workers really do.”

Trapp explained that the social workers do rounds with the doctors every morning, and then gather all the information to figure out the next best steps to begin a patient’s care. They also coordinate conferences for patients, families and the medical teams.

“The social workers are able to support not only the doctors to understand what the patients’ questions are, but also the patients to really understand what it is the doctors and nurses are trying to do to help them,” Trapp said.

Social workers have to go through many steps to bring together all the elements that impact a patient’s life and create a viable picture for anyone working with the patient. Medical staff do not always know a person may only be eating one meal a day, or choosing between paying bills and paying for their medications.

“Everyone has a story that they want to share,” Trapp said. “And that’s what social workers do—we give people an opportunity to share their stories, and from those stories we get a lot more in depth about what is going on socially in a patient’s life outside of their illness that can impact their health and long-term plans for themselves, for their health and well-being.”

Trapp stressed that no matter what kind of difficulty or challenges society is facing, she sees a silver lining in the clouds of the pandemic.

“People seem to be using skills and their imagination much more than before the pandemic,” Trapp said. “People are reaching out to each other, finding ways to entertain themselves and stay connected with others. I think it’s important for all of us to be hopeful, learn from this experience and recognize we are much more resilient than perhaps we have ever given ourselves credit for. I want to remember this strange time in our lives when I have seen families, friends, co-workers and myself gain more insight into ourselves, and to not lose that moment of humanity when we really took the time to figure out other ways to connect.”