Content area
The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between "Social Workers variables and their service delivery in Teaching Hospital. To achieve the purpose of this study, related literatures were reviewed in line with the sub variables under discussion. One null hypothesis was formulated to guide the study. A survey research design was the appropriate design for the study. The purposive sampling technique was employed for the study. The sample size was made up of 48 social workers in Calabar Teaching Hospital. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis was used for the analysis of hypothesis, all at 0.05 significance level. Findings from this study revealed thus there is a positive significant relationship between social workers years of experience and their service delivery. It was recommended among others that, the issue of improving one's educational qualification before entering job should be encouraged on the professionals to help them improved not just services but the entire work ethics.
(Received, 10 June 2025; Revision Accepted 21, July 2025)
ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between "Social Workers variables and their service delivery in Teaching Hospital. To achieve the purpose of this study, related literatures were reviewed in line with the sub variables under discussion. One null hypothesis was formulated to guide the study. A survey research design was the appropriate design for the study. The purposive sampling technique was employed for the study. The sample size was made up of 48 social workers in Calabar Teaching Hospital. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis was used for the analysis of hypothesis, all at 0.05 significance level. Findings from this study revealed thus there is a positive significant relationship between social workers years of experience and their service delivery. It was recommended among others that, the issue of improving one's educational qualification before entering job should be encouraged on the professionals to help them improved not just services but the entire work ethics.
KEYWORD: Social Workers variables and their service delivery in Teaching Hospital
INTRODUCTION
In the realm of healthcare provision, the role of social workers is indispensable. Social workers play a pivotal role in addressing the psychosocial aspects of patient care, ensuring holistic wellbeing, and facilitating effective communication between patients, families, and healthcare providers.
However, the effective delivery of social work services in healthcare settings is dependent upon various factors, ranging from personal factors, organizational dynamics and external influences such as government policies and community demographics (Anon, 2022).
Nigeria's healthcare system grapples with multifaceted challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, lack of motivation, healthcare workforce shortages, and disparities in access to quality care is calling for concern according to (Glory, Rose, Fidelis & Elizabeth 2024). Within this landscape, teaching hospitals serve as vital institutions for medical education, research, and specialized healthcare services. They are often face with high patient volumes, resource constraints, and complex care needs, posing unique challenges for social workers operating within these environments (Tung and Boyd, 2016). Edoho, Arikpo & Bella (2022), has this to say, Social workers in healthcare settings fulfill a myriad of roles, encompassing psychosocial assessment, counseling, advocacy, resource coordination, and discharge planning without prompt annual leave due to the fact that workers' monetize this period. Their interventions are integral to addressing the social determinants of health and promoting patient well-being. However, Edoho, Fidelis & Ojong in 2025 affirm the effective execution of these roles is influenced by various internal and external factors such as their years of experience, their occupational status and their educational status.
Social workers provide a wide range of services ranging from social services, career services, services, within and outside the hospital setting. (Andong, Okey, Betiang, Edoho & Offiong 2023) is of the view that various services provided by social workers may be affected by various factors, like demographic factors, psychological factors, social factors, environmental factors etc. these demographic factors like years of experience, occupational status and educational status are needed for social workers effective service delivery. It has gotten to situation where patients complain that the person giving them services especially in hospitals and health centers is being unprofessional because social workers now deal with patients exactly how their day go or with circumstances surrounding their day and do not bother about how that affects the health progress of the patients (Taylor and WasyIko, 2017). The hospital social worker's responsibilities also include educating patients about various resources at their disposal and interviewing patients to understanding their uniqueness. Ultimately social worker also accesses each patient's unique condition, combining data from medical diagnosis and personal interviews, they also develop a comprehensive plan to help patient adjust to medical diagnosis and transition from one health system to normal life (McGuire- Schwartz and McCabe, 2019). They provide necessary support for each patient according to the health status, personal strength and weaknesses, emotional state and additional factors, but you find out that patients and their loved ones are leftto go in search of services to help patients with their problems, they are abandoned by the social worker and other health practitioners after diagnosis have been done, giving excuses like they are poorly paid, they have not eaten or there are no machines, drugs or even personnels to carry on treatment on the patient (UNESCO, 2022).
The years of experience for social workers typically refer to the amount of time they have spent working in the field of social work, directly engaging with individuals, families, communities, or organizations to address various social issues and improve well-being. This experience can encompass a wide range of activities, including client assessments, counseling, advocacy, community outreach, program development, and policy implementation (McAuliffe, 2019). The more years of experience a social worker has, the more likely they are to have developed advanced skills, gained deeper insights, and established a broader network within the field, which can enhance their effectiveness in helping others Despite the critical importance of social work in healthcare provision, empirical research on the factors influencing service delivery by social workers in Nigerian teaching hospitals, particularly within the context of Calabar Municipal Local Government Area, remains limited. This study seeks to address this gap by systematically examining the variables that impact the service delivery of social workers in the local teaching hospital.
Statement of the problem
Social workers play a crucial role in providing psychosocial support and facilitating holistic patient care within teaching hospitals. However, in the Calabar Municipal Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the influence of social workers' variables on service delivery effectiveness within this healthcare setting. Despite the recognized importance of social workers, there is limited empirical research exploring the specific variables that impact their service delivery within teaching hospitals in Calabar Municipal. The government and relevant organizations have made some efforts to address healthcare challenges, including initiatives to improve staffing levels, training programs for healthcare professionals, and the implementation of policies aimed at enhancing patient care. However, the focus on social workers' variables and their impact on service delivery within teaching hospitals may not have received adequate attention. Despite these efforts, challenges persist in fully understanding and addressing the factors influencing social workers' service delivery within teaching hospitals
Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study is to examine Social workers variables and their service delivery in teaching hospital in Calabar Municipal, Cross River State. Specifically this study seeks to;
i. examine the relationship between social workers years of experience and their service delivery in teaching hospital in Calabar Municipal, Cross River State
Research Question
In order to examine the issues raised in the study, the following research questions were raised by the researcher.
i. To what extent does a social workers year of experience relate with their service delivery? Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses were formulated to guide the study:
i. There is no significant relationship between social workers years of experience and their service delivery.
SOCIAL WORKERS YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND THEIR SERVICE DELIVERY
Bhargava and Anhazhagan, (2014), The years of experience for social workers refer to the amount of time they have spent working in the field of social work. This includes their tenure in various roles such as direct service providers, supervisors, administrators, educators, or researchers within social work organizations or related settings. With more years of experience, social workers typically accumulate knowledge, skills, and expertise in assessing client needs, providing interventions, navigating systems, and advocating for clients. As social workers gain experience, they often develop a deeper understanding of human behavior, social systems, and interventions. This can lead to increased expertise in assessing client needs, developing intervention plans, and implementing effective strategies to address issues. Experienced social workers may be better equipped to manage complex cases involving multiple stakeholders, challenging client situations, and intricate legal or ethical considerations. They may have developed a repertoire of strategies for navigating bureaucratic systems and advocating for their clients (Glory, Bella, Rose 2024).
In today's complex business life, employee performance is believed to be an important subject not only in achieving organizational objectives but also in maintaining competitive advantages over other enterprises (Yilmaz, (2015). To enhance employee job performance all organizations are required to encourage positive work attitudes like helping customers to resolve problems, cooperating with co-workers, trying to prevent unexpected incidents and sustaining quality standards of the organization in order to ensure customer satisfaction (Yilmaz, 2015).
However, it is assumed that work experience will enhance job performance over time. Operating on this premise may hold sometimes, but caution must be taken as over generalization may be defective in some situations as diminishing returns may set in later after work experience and age may have topped which may reflect a non-linear relationship or no relationship at all between job experience and employee's performance. Many occupations recognize employees‟ years of work experience as a relevant factor in human resource policies, including compensation systems, benefits packages, and promotion decisions. The idea is that work experience, gained over time, enhances the knowledge, skills, productivity, and performance of workers (Glory, Rose, Fidelis & Elizabeth 2024).
Rice (2020) examined the impact of years of work experience on job performance of managers in hospital settings in Nigeria. There is paucity of information on the topic; however a worker having good work experience in his job can become a leader due to his special giftof experience he acquired during the course of his work.
This gives him an expert power as posited hence dependable and he is more efficient too due to the tacit (Bhargava and Anbazhagan, 2014) knowledge he has. This is in accordance to the common adage practice that makes a man perfect. Apart from the professional and academic knowledge, it is commonly believed that experience might play important roles on the performance of individuals. In many cultures, the myth is that people get wiser due to more exposure and experience. For example in African culture, experience is considered as a priority for leadership positions in different organizations (Bhargava and Anbazhagan, 2014).
In a study carried out by Ani & Igwe (2018), Edoho, Ukpanukpong & Ojong (2025) has similarities' in suggesting that also suggests that social workers work experience do influence their services in the long run. How this happens in the hospital setting is still unknown and this work was undertaken to understand that relationship. Data for this study came from a cross-sectional survey using selfadministered questionnaire distributed amongst one hundred and twenty five (125) social workers in twenty five (25) hospitals and the response rate was 83.2%. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 16) was use as the analysis tool. Though there were no significant relationships between length of social workers work experience and service delivery.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design: The researcher opted for survey design as the appropriate design for the study. Idaka, & Anagbogu (2012) opined that Survey design is a research approach specifically designed to systematically collect data about a group of individuals who have same characteristics, through the use of written or oral data collection instruments, interviews, questionnaires, Survey design helps the researcher to ascertain the situation as it exists, based on information from respondents in their natural setting. The survey design is economical and time saving.
Population of the study
The population of this study consists of one hundred and four (104) social workers in Teaching Hospital in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria (Cross- River State Ministry of Health, 2024).
Sample
The sample for the study was made up of 48 social workers, drawn from the total population of 104, representing 47% of the total population
Instrumentation
The main instrument for data collection was a questionnaire designed by the researcher. The instrument had two sections, section A and B. Section A includes the demographic variables, section B is the social workers variables which is made up of twenty (20) items in a four likert scale questionnaire. The questionnaire is titled "Social Workers Variables and their Service Delivery Questionnaire" (SWVSDQ).
Validity of the Instrument
The instrument was given to two experts for face and content validation, one expert from professor in Measurement and Evaluation Unit and the other from teaching hospital. The experts validated the instrument based on clarity of instrument, proper wording of items, appropriateness and adequacy of the items in addressing the objectives of the study. The corrections and suggestions made by the experts were incorporated in the final production of the instruments.
Reliability of the Instrument
Essentially, reliability is one of the two indices needed to establish the effective application of the research instruments. Reliability therefore, refers to the extent to which the test measures whatever it does measure in a consistent way. To establish the reliability of the instrument, the researcher in the first instance administered the instrument to 50 social workers' in different units. The data obtained after scoring from the administration were arranged in table known as person-by-item matrix which is a rectangular array of numbers in rows and columns. From the table, all the necessary indices like those of item means, item variances and standard deviations were computed, data extracted and used in establishing the reliability of the instrument with the application of Cronbach coefficient Alpha formula, which gave reliability estimate range between 0.71 to 0.78
Data Collection Procedure
The questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection. The questionnaires were administered in Teaching Hospital Calabar in Cross River State. The respondents were informed of the exercise and the essence of given objective responses to the items as the information obtained will be treated with all amount of confidentiality and would be used as data for research purpose. The questionnaire was administered personally by the researcher and two adjunct social workers.
Data Presentation\Scoring
The questionnaire is made up of six (6) items from the dependent variable on four point scale.
Responses Scores
Strongly agree (SA) 4 points
Agree (A) 3 points
Disagree (D) 2 points
Strongly disagree (SD) 1 point
And inverse if the items are negatively worded
Presentation of results
Hypotheses one
There is no significant relationship between social workers' years of experience and their service delivery. The independent variable of this study is years of experience while the dependent variable is social workers service delivery. In testing this hypothesis, data collected from the subjects about years of experience and service delivery were correlated using Pearson Product Moment Correlation technique tested at .05 level of significance. The result of the analysis was presented in Table 5.
The result in Table 5 revealed that the mean score obtained by the subjects about years of experience was 11.69 with a standard deviation of 3.90 while the mean score obtained by the subjects about social workers service delivery 23.29 was with a standard deviation of 5.80. The result also showed that the correlation between years of experience and social workers service delivery produced a statistically significant r-ratio of .465· with a p-value of .025, since the p-value is less than .05. Hence, the null hypothesis that there is no significant relationship between social workers years of experience and their service delivery was rejected. Therefore, this implies that social worker's years of experience has a significant positive relationship with their service delivery in Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Cross River State.
CONCLUSION
From the findings of the study, it was concluded that social workers variables such as their years of experience have a significant relationship with their service delivery in Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Cross River State.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. In-service learning should be considered during working service as an attribute of social workers not just in health sector but also in the education sector.
2. The issue of improving one's educational qualification before entering job should be encouraged on the all levels of qualification to help workers to be productive not just their services but the entire work ethics.
3. Curriculum developers/policies makers should ensure that some people needs to be hire based on their years of experience in their previous work.
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