Schley Named Social Worker of the Year

Kathryn Schley, MSW, LCSW, is the 2015 winner of the Brandy McDaniel Social Worker of the Year Award for Duke University Medical Center.

The award, presented at the annual Clinical Social Work luncheon on March 25, goes to the social worker who demonstrates clear excellence in the performance of his/her job, is a strong advocate for and/or has developed an innovative program for a particular patient population, is considered a highly collaborative team player who works well with other disciplines, has significantly enhanced the visibility and level of professionalism of social work in Duke University Medical Center (DUMC), and embodies the character traits that Brandy McDaniel was known for: generosity, sense of humor, courage, and strength."Kathryn is the go-to person in her area of service when patients or their families need support, counseling or hand-holding," said Sarah Davis, MSW, LCSW, who received the award last year and presented this year's award to Schley. "She is highly respected for her therapeutic skills and works with the most complicated mental health issues. She takes no credit for her role in mustering the most vital resources and says her reward is seeing patients in need get their needs met."In a letter of support for Schley's nomination for the award, Eleanor Austin, RN, a triage nurse, said Schley "shows great compassion and genuine concern for our patients, does not back away from challenging situations but embraces them with remedies and solutions. Her time is not spent on what cannot be done but on what can be done to make their lives better."Jason Stout, M.D. MHS, medical director for infectious diseases, called Schley "the rock of our clinic. She is always available to assist for the caring of our patients and providing solutions to difficult problems. She is extraordinary, collegial and pleasant to work with. She is level-headed in the most challenging of circumstances and always put the patients’ well-being first.""It’s really my pleasure to work with our patient population," said Schley, who has worked at Duke for more than four years. "It's a passion of mine, and ours. To get this honor on our patient's behalf is really what most important. It's really for the patients."The award is named after the first recipient of the award in 1994, Brandy McDaniel, who in 23 years at Duke made significant contributions to the Department of Social Work and to DUMC, as evidenced in her leadership in developing the role of social workers in the medical center. She was Director of Pediatric Social work and spearheaded the development of programs such as the first Duke Camp Kaleidoscope, now an annual camp for chronically ill children.