Predicting Patterns of Social Work Staffing in Hospital Settings

One long-standing problem of social work depart- ments in acute care hospitals has been their diverse patterns of staffing. The lack of a standard or guide has tended to diminish the utili- zation of social work services in hospital settings. Over a period of six years, the Society for Hospital Social Work Directors of the American Hospital Association developed and revised a guide for inpatient staffing. The guide is designed to assist hospital and social work administrators establish an inpatient line staffing plan which is based on the number of hospital beds, the number of patients to be served and the number of functions carried. The logic of the inquiry and the findings can serve as a base for future research in inpatient, ambulatory care and other settings that serve special populations.