The theoretical part includes an overview of laws and regulations that define the work of social workers working in the field of healthcare. We discuss the many roles of healthcare social workers, how the norms and standards are regulated, how the traineeship programmes and practical learning of social workers in Slovenia look like and how the traineeship programmes are organized for social workers working in healthcare and social security. In our qualitative study, we used a semi-structured interview and conducted six interviews. We also included one of the key figures in this field, the leader of the Section of Social Workers in Healthcare. We collected data and discussed how the traineeship programmes are organized, what the employment opportunities for healthcare social workers are, how the study programme and practical learning could be improved, how the norms and standards are regulated as well as what kind of systemic and organizational problems the employees face.The results of the empirical part show that traineeships are formally regulated and can be carried out, however, trainees face quite a number of problems; the question arises how to guarantee enough traineeship programmes for all and how the trainees can find a place in the traineeship programmes. Based on our results, this is greatly affected by the social worker’s decision and the amount of their existing work, what is more, the financial means also present a problem. Currently, the employment opportunities on all these three levels are not equal. The interviewees propose the incorporation of more healthcare content and talk about the benefits that a wider range of traineeship programmes could bring. The Section of Social Workers in Healthcare tries to help in the process of regulating the norms and standards. The interview transcripts revealed many roles, tasks and challenges the employees have to deal with. In the conclusion, we present further research possibilities in the field of the traineeship programmes, employment, specialisation, study programme and practical learning improvements, and the regulation of norms and standards.
|