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Social Work Documentation: A Guide to Strengthening Your Case Recording, 2nd Edition, Paperback
Social Work A Guide to Strengthening Your Case Recording 2nd Edition
The second edition of Social Work A Guide to Strengthening Your Case Recording is an update to Nancy L. Sidell's 2011 book on the importance of developing effective social work documentation skills. The new edition aims to help practitioners build writing skills in a variety of settings. New materials include updates on current practice issues such as electronic case recording and trauma-informed documentation. The book addresses the need for learning to keep effective documentation with new exercises and provides tips for assessing and documenting client cultural differences of relevance. Sidell encourages individuals to reflect on personal strengths and challenges related to documentation skills. Social Work Documentation is a how-to guide for social work students and practitioners interested in good record keeping and improving their documentation skills.
The second edition of Social Work A Guide to Strengthening Your Case Recording is an update to Nancy L. Sidell's 2011 book on the importance of developing effective social work documentation skills. The new edition aims to help practitioners build writing skills in a variety of settings. New materials include updates on current practice issues such as electronic case recording and trauma-informed documentation. The book addresses the need for learning to keep effective documentation with new exercises and provides tips for assessing and documenting client cultural differences of relevance. Sidell encourages individuals to reflect on personal strengths and challenges related to documentation skills. Social Work Documentation is a how-to guide for social work students and practitioners interested in good record keeping and improving their documentation skills.
282 pages, Paperback
Published March 22, 2022
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August 30, 2025
I finished the 3rd edition published in 2024. This was a really easy and digestible read, but not what I needed. Written for college students and a professors guide for group activities or a guide for live trainings. This was not a book for a seasoned professional looking to enhance skills but rather a refresher. The CEUs that NASW provides for this as self-study doesn’t feel like a quality source for those post graduation. I also felt spoken down to in my intelligence throughout this read.
It would have been more helpful for the author to reference more examples of quality notes and not so many lengthy examples of poor notes with direction to improve them. This book was intended to show me what improvements looked like, spotting a poor note is easy, but the art of a quality note is much more helpful.
For being published in 2024, I’m also unimpressed with the lack of reference to emerging technologies in the field. She nostalgically references the transition from typewriter to computer, but this isn’t a new advancement.
I would have loved to see reference to AI and the emergence in the field as well as use of electronic medical record systems from a review of them, best practices using them, etc.
There is also a big pull in the field to focus in on providing quality notes that protect a clients privacy. While referenced as important for the social worker, not enough information was provided as to what that looks like or how to do it.
I would recommend this text for young, BSW students.
It would have been more helpful for the author to reference more examples of quality notes and not so many lengthy examples of poor notes with direction to improve them. This book was intended to show me what improvements looked like, spotting a poor note is easy, but the art of a quality note is much more helpful.
For being published in 2024, I’m also unimpressed with the lack of reference to emerging technologies in the field. She nostalgically references the transition from typewriter to computer, but this isn’t a new advancement.
I would have loved to see reference to AI and the emergence in the field as well as use of electronic medical record systems from a review of them, best practices using them, etc.
There is also a big pull in the field to focus in on providing quality notes that protect a clients privacy. While referenced as important for the social worker, not enough information was provided as to what that looks like or how to do it.
I would recommend this text for young, BSW students.
Displaying 1 of 1 review