Social Work Career Spotlight: Hospice Care

As a certified nursing assistant at Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care, social work graduate Senna Elise Hargett combines nursing training with social work education.

Hargett earned her Bachelor of Social Work from KU in May 2023. After graduation, she kept close to Olathe, her hometown, and now started her job supporting families facing serious illness and grief in 2024. To get this position, Hargett also had to get a nursing assistant certification, which she received from Johnson County Community College in 2019.

Tell us about your path from graduating from the BSW program to your current job.

I kind of went through different phases of different CNA jobs, but I really fell in love with the idea of helping people in the geriatric community. So, after graduating, I was leaning more toward hospice care, and I decided to look into different job opportunities that had CNA positions that were also social work-related.

After those jobs, I decided to move on to hospice, and with that, it fell into place. I was able to do this Kansas City Hospice and Palliative Care job and it's been really, really good.

What do you find most rewarding about your current job?

I love that I'm able to put a smile on different patient’s faces, especially when they are maybe in a bad mood, or they're feeling physically kind of low.

So really, a lot of it is bringing comfort to them when they need it and bringing them supplies if they need it. And I think that brings me a lot of rewards and joy when I know, even if I'm having a bad day, it's nice to be able to help them out and not focus on myself.

Where did you complete your BSW practicum and what kind of work did you do there?

I completed my BSW practicum at Trinity In-Home Care in Lawrence. They help clients with developmental disabilities in the elderly population. I shadowed a social worker there who would help make sure that each one of their clients had the support they needed.

It was a good experience to go out into the field and see what it was like to help those individuals when they needed it most.

What experience in the KU BSW program most prepared you for what you’re doing now?

In this field, you run into a lot of different, diverse populations. I think it's important that not everybody's the same. Everyone interacts differently with one another, and they have different cultures and backgrounds that make them who they are. To take someone as they are when you meet them is important, and I think that's really a big thing that has helped me in my CNA job today.