Advanced practitioners are expected to skillfully incorporate and utilize the value base of the social work profession in correlation with its ethical standards. As outlined in the NASW Code of Ethics, advanced practitioners must demonstrate professionalism within every aspect of practice. It is imperative that we are able to consistently distinguish between personal and professional values. As an advanced social work practitioner, I recognize that a key component of professionalism is the ability to recognize and evaluate personal experiences, perceptions, and beliefs and to understand how my visceral reactions might influence professional judgement and behavior. To be a competent, advanced practitioner entails commitment to continual growth and professional development to ensure our skills remain relevant and effective.
1.1: Develop a practice framework for analysis of complex environments, that is ethical, value-grounded, and evidenced-based.
Field Evidence: For my field placement, I served as a social work intern for the Eviction Prevention Initiative, a program that provided access to legal and case management services for families in Chattanooga facing eviction amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the EPI was a pilot initiative, I played an active role in program development, particularly pertaining to social work processes. I developed an ethical framework that incorporated components from Frederick Reamer’s Ethical Decision-Making Framework and Elaina Congress’s ETHIC Model of Decision-Making. From this framework, I created a step-by-step guide to be utilized by social workers on the EPP when addressing ethical issues and dilemmas.
1.2: Implement supervisory and self-care strategies that integrate professional strengths, limitations, and challenges.
Field Evidence: Throughout my practicum, I met with my field instructor for one hour each week to discuss strengths, limitations, and challenges that I recognized from the previous week. We continually strategized how to strengthen my skill set in particular areas and how to address the limitations and challenges I faced. I also implemented components of a self-care checklist each week that can be viewed here.
1.3: Exhibit commitment to professional growth through continuing education, supervision, and ongoing consultation.
Academic Evidence: I participated in Part 1 and Part 2 of the Shared Responsibility Webinar hosted by Southern Adventist University. Part 1 took place on October 12, 2020 and Part 2 took place on December 3, 2020. The first virtual conversation highlighted institutional and systemic injustices and reiterated the shared responsibility of each of us to be a part of the change necessary for community healing and restoration. The five-year collaborative research efforts of the Chattanooga Police Department and the School of Social Work were also briefly discussed. The second virtual conversation focused more exclusively on the five-year research collaboration between the School of Social Work and the Chattanooga Police Department. During this meeting, the discussion centered on research findings, implications for current police practices, and pragmatic suggestions for police accountability and citizen participation. From a social work perspective, I found each meeting insightful and applicable. A certificate for my participation in the first meeting can be viewed here.
Additionally, I was honored to be awarded the MSW Student of the Year Award 2021 and the MSW Advanced Excellence in Field 2021. Each of these awards provide evidence of my passion for the social work profession and my commitment to continual professional growth.
1.4: Demonstrate professional oral and written communication skills
Academic Evidence: In our advanced administration course, the Winter 2021 final project was an organization proposal. Components of this proposal included a marketing plan, a financial plan, human resource strategies, and internal organizational policies. In my group, I was assigned to write the Whistleblower Policy. This written policy demonstrates my professional written communication skills and can be viewed here.
Skills Present: Through fulfilling each practice behavior in this competency, I demonstrated active listening skills, consistent self-reflection, and professional oral and written communication skills.
Knowledge Present: Demonstrating each practice behavior required that I utilize my educational foundation, incorporate knowledge gained through continual communication with my field instructor and clients, and develop an ethical framework that aligned with the clientele and communities I served at my practicum agency.
Values Present: While completing each task, I demonstrated integrity by behaving in a trustworthy manner and ensuring the confidentiality of my clients was prioritized through writing my own confidentiality agreement for clients to review upon initial intake. I demonstrated competence through maintaining a commitment to professional growth and incorporating an evidence-based framework when addressing ethical dilemmas.
Cognitive Processes: For these tasks, I had to recall (knowledge domain) evidence-based frameworks when creating a step-by-step guide for addressing ethical dilemmas. My ability to accurately summarize (comprehension domain) information was made evident through my demonstration of professional written communication skills when writing the whistleblower policy for my group’s proposed organization.
Affective Processes: In order to successfully demonstrate each practice behavior, I had to listen (receiving domain), exercise discernment (receiving domain), and remain attentive to my field instructor, my professors, my colleagues, and my clients. My ability to internalize (characterization domain) was made evident through my continual demonstration of behavior that was consistent with the values of the social work profession.
Theoretical Foundation: Self-Regulation Theory states that we exercise effort to be the person we want to be by controlling and remaining aware of what we think, say and do in particular situations and in the longer-term. I have been able to utilize this throughout my practicum experience by continually practicing self-reflection and demonstrating professional behavior through my interactions with my field instructor, my professors, my colleagues, and my clients.