title: Social work in the Veterans Administration hospital system: impact of the work.
abstract: Social workers in the Veterans Administration (VA) hospital system are faced with numerous challenges to best address the ongoing health and mental health needs of those who serve in the military. Social workers in the VA system serve diverse roles on the multidisciplinary medical teams and mental health services and are integral to the VA hospital environment. Most social workers feel positive about their work and their contributions to the care of the military. Despite positive feelings about their work, social workers are also prone to compassion fatigue and burnout as the work, especially with returning veterans from Afghanistan/Iraq, often extracts a toll. This article details the experience of social workers in the VA hospital system; it describes the impact of the work on the social workers, noting levels of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout.
authors.affiliation: Yeshiva University, Wurzweiler School of Social Work, 2495 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10033, USA. beder@yu.edu
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beder
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Postiglione
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Strolin-Goltzman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012737:Sex Factors; D012947:Social Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States