SWHPN 2017 Conference Reflection

By Abigail LatimerAlthough I have three years of hospice clinical social work, I am only six months into my career with inpatient palliative care. I learned aboutSWHPN (Social Work Hospice& Palliative Care Network) and quickly applied and received the scholarship to attend the conference. It was beyond any previously held expectation and I left in awe of the work that is being done from around the country and world. As I sat next to great leaders like Dr. Grace Christ, Terri Altilio, LCSW and Shirley Otis-Green, LCSW, OSW-C (to name a few) I felt humble and as Susan Blacker, MSW, RSW and Susan Hedlund, LCSW, OSW-C described during their accidental leadership presentation, I thought to myself “oops, maybe I am not supposed to be here!”The week was full of encouragement to pursue research and take advantage of leadership opportunities with strategies and words of advice to guide you. We heard from Andrew MacPherson who reminded us to stay calm, there are positive conversations in Washington and time is on our side regarding changes with the ACA. We were reassured the calls to legislators and other political leaders helps and to keep “demonstrating the hell out of it” to see change. Myra Christopher and Susan Hedlund approached the all too familiar topic of PAD, reminding us to support our patients first and remember there are “good people on both sides of the debate.” Agreeing we all want to see changes in the way we provide care to those at end of lif...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - Category: Palliative Care Source Type: blogs