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Oncology Social Workers Go Above & Beyond
Social Workers Redeployed to Outpatient Oncology Go Above & Beyond
By Kerry Irish, LCSW, Clinical Oncology Social Worker
In June 2020, clinical social workers Lynne Norwood and Sarah Maull began working some redeployment hours with outpatient oncology social work.
Lynne had previous but distant work experience in oncology, however, her exceptional clinical skills as a therapist were a very strong asset from the start. She was able to quickly establish therapeutic relationships with our cancer patients. Lynne also has a depth of community resource knowledge that made her a strong asset – in particular with patients in our Haywood County clinic – many of whom face significant challenges due to low socioeconomic status.
Lynne consistently went above and beyond in her work, even contacting patients on her normal days off or in the evenings in order to ensure they received timely care. In one instance, Lynne offered to make a home visit when she was unable to reach a patient in need by either telephone or email.
Sarah's willingness to jump right in to learn about a highly specialized field within clinical social work as well as a host of complex data tracking systems – required for our cancer program accreditation – has been nothing short of incredible. Her clinical skills are excellent, and she has served our oncology patients with exceptional care and compassion, frequently going above and beyond to check in with patients struggling with emotional or concrete needs on her days off.
The efforts of Sarah and Lynne to respond to every case referred or triaged to them in a timely manner coupled with their extension of exceptional care every time ensured that distressed cancer patients received timely and appropriate care. This also helped ensure our cancer program meets accreditation standards.
