Veterinary Social Worker
Location: Waukesha, WI
Schedule: Full Time | Monday Through Friday | 1st Shift With Flexibility To Support Weekends And Evenings To Support A 24/7 Hospital
Co mpensation: $70,000-80,000/year
Why Join WVRC Waukesha?
WVRC Waukesha is a 24/7 VECCS Level I Certified Emergency & Critical Care and Specialty Hospital, providing advanced, lifesaving care in a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility. As a Veterinary Social Worker, you'll bring compassionate support to the people behind our patients, helping clients and families navigate medical crises, serious diagnoses, grief, and end-of-life decisions. You'll collaborate with specialists, emergency clinicians, technicians, and client service teams in an environment that values the human-animal bond and recognizes emotional support as an essential part of veterinary care. Through direct client engagement, resource coordination, program development, and team wellness education, you'll have the opportunity to shape meaningful support services while making a lasting difference for families and the veterinary professionals who care for them.
In Your Day-To-Day, You Will:
Provide pet loss counseling to clients by phone and in person.
Establish and maintain consistent documentation of client and staff intervention, while maintaining confidentiality.
Facilitate (organize, implement, maintain, and promote) a pet loss support group. Assist clients in end-of-life decision making in collaboration with staff and doctors.
Provide informal debriefing services to staff members, individually, or in groups.
In conjunction with the People & Organization department, provide other short-term interventions such as mediation of conflict, assessment, and referral for outside and/or EAP counseling.
Consult with the People and Organization department, Hospital Leadership Teams and Regional Team regarding the wellness of staff to enhance hospital functioning.
Present topics of Veterinary Social Work expertise such as compassion fatigue, stress management, work/life balance, communication skills, grief, and pet loss.
Provide resources for staff regarding wellness accessibility on website, email, and/or newsletter Provide support and counseling to clients as needed, or by request from doctors or staff.
Provide consultation to doctors and staff regarding the Veterinary Social Worker's assessment of clients to facilitate treatment and effective communication.
Enrich and enhance the hospital environment to provide the most peaceful and meaningful euthanasia process possible.
Develop a Veterinary Social Worker Internship program in collaboration with local colleges and universities.
What You Bring: A master’s degree in Social Work and at least four years of experience, preferably in a medical, hospice, or mental health setting.
Required experience in grief and bereavement counseling, as well as trauma and PTSD counseling.
A compassionate, nonjudgmental approach to supporting individuals and families through crisis, serious illness, and loss, with an appreciation for the human-animal bond.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to navigate emotionally sensitive conversations and support informed decision-making.
The ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, and respond to client and staff needs in an emotionally intense, fast-paced environment.
Strong collaboration skills and the ability to build trusting relationships with multidisciplinary teams, clients, and community partners.
Knowledge of grief and bereavement resources, crisis support, and community assistance programs.
An understanding of compassion fatigue, burnout prevention, resilience, and employee wellbeing, with the ability to facilitate discussions, informal debriefings, and educational programs.
The ability to patiently mentor social work interns, delegate responsibilities, and teach practical skills.
Initiative to identify support needs and develop, evaluate, and improve…