To think I've made a big mistake?

[shitcreekpolicy]

6 years in education. An honours degree in politics, society and policy.

A 2 year masters in social work. 2 days from completing my final placement then onto my dissertation.

Sat in staff meeting this morning, everyone so negative and moaning. Not enough support to put in place for people, too bureaucratic etc etc. just an overwhelmingly depressed vibe. One social worker actually made eye contact with me and said, 'welcome on board' and another said
'It has never been this bad'.

I started social work thinking that I could help people and make a difference in their life. I thought I could make a difference despite
Warnings.

I have walked away from the meeting today feeling so utterly deflated and thinking why bother? Is social work seriously so miserable? It's the only profession I thought I'd enjoy.

Bump

You can and will make a difference. Just not for everyone. Ultimately you can do what you can and if people don't want to or can't change then they still need support / their kids need people who care.

Trouble with social work is when it's functioning as a system everything is ok, but when the system starts to malfunction it's awful. I've worked in both and the difference is tangible. Is your local authority struggling? Are you applying to the same one and have you looked at recent ofsted reports for the LAs you are applying to?
Social work can be a bit competitively stressed at times which is annoying and unhelpful. You'll also always get people on social work who enjoy moaning and being put upon. Avoid getting sucked in by such types.

Yes you have made a big mistake.

No she hasn't!

OP I hear what you are saying. Nursing is EXACTLY the same....

@shitcreekpolicy I can understand how you feel, totally.

i think YOU will make a difference to loads of people's lives and a HUGE life changing difference to many people.

unless you set out to make your focus changing parts of the system or getting more funding, you can't & wont change the system much.

can you be happy with that?

I don't understand when you've put SO SO much into getting into it how we have so many utterly useless social workers? Many of whom seem poorly educated. ?? Baffles me.

you have to finish your qualifications, if you decide you don't want to do it, you can use them
in ither ways. But I do think you should give it a go & focus on what you can do for people, not what you can't! 😊

I worked for social services but not as a social worker. Probably not what you want to hear but i would never go back. The service is just so stretched. Not enough funding. Staff turnover huge. Staff sickness levels through the roof. I loved it when I started but it just got harder and harder. I left to be a safeguarding lead in a college.

Nice

very helpful. Especially with so much detail 🙄🙄

We'll, for the 8 years you have been studying. Health and Social in the UK has been in managed decline.

You need to revisit what the difference is that you want to make. Because with those qualifications and some practical
Common sense, you could go far.

I've just read the Constance Marten thread.

As a SW you're going to be in a position to help children avoid living and dying like this.

You'll be able to help children like baby Victoria's siblings AVOID living and dying like this.

You'll be able to help parents (those that are amenable and receptive to help) avoid risking their children's health and happiness.

Or maybe you'll help a vulnerable person avoid abuse. Or maybe you'll help find the perfect placement for an older person who can no longer cope on their own in the community.

There are so many ways that you will be able to help, so many people that you will be able to help.

I totally get what is said about SW being a miserable place to work but maybe not all depts are like yours?

It's so team dependent. One team they could all feel great, another one they could all feel totally despondent. Then a new senior manager can come in either make or break the whole thing. It's just how it is.

But do remember that as a pp said, as a profession social work is competitively whiney and miserable at times too 😉Which is understandable given the type of person who wants to do social work is generally empathic, wants to make a difference, potentially has a slight anti-authority streak, cares about fairness and injustice etc. I think as a group we have a very low tolerance for stupidity and bureaucracy, which unfortunately is the bread and butter of large organisations like local authorities.

I've done it over ten years though and I'm still here feeling fine, despite ups and downs.

That's unhelpful.

The OP had not made a mistake. They have entered a profession because they care about people. We need people like them to help society function. The job may be challenging and may not pay as well as other jobs, but we know it does make a difference to people's lives. Not everyone can say they are helping people every day of their working lives.

Can I just say I’m thank my lucky stars that people want to work in social care and nursing. These jobs are so important, thank you for what you do.
you CAN make a difference to people, however small. Hopefully a change in government will lead to improvements with funding and staffing. It is atrocious the contempt the government has for these professions