Abstract
There is limited information tailored towards beginning social work practitioners entering a hospital field placement with little to no medical experience. There is also a lack of knowledge about whether or not this information is needed or how it would be incorporated into the social services department. The primary purpose of this research project was to develop a reference manual for incoming interns at Marshall Hospital to facilitate quicker acquisition of skill, as well as evaluate how helpful the manual would be. Non-probability judgment sampling was used to identify the study participants. An evaluation questionnaire was distributed to social work employees at the hospital, and six employees responded anonymously to a questionnaire about the manual’s usefulness, readability, and potential for positive contribution. The study’s findings indicate that the employees felt the manual was useful, readable, and would make a positive contribution to professional development for new interns at Marshall. The manual should be updated continually with new information as government rules and community resource offerings change. Future research is warranted for this type of manual to be applicable to other hospital settings.