Social Work Documentation: A Guide to Strengthening Your Case Recording

The second edition of Social Work Documentation: 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.

Nancy L. Sidell, PhD, is professor of social work at Mansfield University, Mansfield, Pennsylvania. She has served as BSW program director and department chair during her tenure at Mansfield University. Sidell has over 18 years of practice experience as a social worker in health, mental health, and nursing home settings. She is an item development consultant with the Association of Social Work Boards and a coauthor (with Denise K. Smiley) of Professional Communication Skills in Social Work. She has also authored numerous journal articles. She lives in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, and enjoys quilting, road biking, and hiking.