Meet Kelly Jeske, LCSW
Welcome to our Hospital Friends series. Here we’ll share stories about all of the different kinds of helpers families meet during their hospital journey. We hope this series will help bring awareness to what life is like in the hospital as well as comfort to families in during their journey.
Say hello to Kelly Jeske, LCSW (Medical Social Worker)! She’s a member of the Hematology/Oncology Social Work team Doernbecher Children’s Hospital/OHSU. We asked her to share what it's like work with babies, what she's learned from babies as a social worker and what it's like to live in a hospital. We're honored to share her story with you.
“I relish the ability to nurture long-term relationships with children and their families, while also responding to critical and emergent needs in the moment.”
Tell us about you
I am a mama, social worker, and writer. I’ve worked at OHSU as a pediatric medical social worker since 2017. Prior to this, I worked in a variety of social service areas, including medication assisted treatment for adults with substance use disorders and family support for children with exceptional needs.
What called you to social work?
Prior to pursuing my master’s degree in social work, I completed graduate education in sociology and focused my thesis research on health disparities in marginalized communities. From that vantage point, I ignited my passion to engage in work that identifies and responds to the ways institutionalized oppression leads to constricted opportunities across society.
“Life shrinks to fit into the hospital room, while also expanding to include so much new learning about cancer, treatment, grief, loss, and hope.”
What is a typical day like for you in the hospital?
Oncology social work at Doernbecher provides opportunities for all sorts of connections with babies, children, and adults—assessment of need, emotional and coping support, mental health intervention, and connection to community resources. On any given day, oncology social workers are supporting adjustment to new diagnoses and treatment plans, providing individual and family counseling, supporting communication between families and medical teams, and connecting families with community resources. I relish the ability to nurture long-term relationships with children and their families, while also responding to critical and emergent needs in the moment.
“Living in the hospital provides a paradoxical mix of safety and intrusion, containment and unpredictability, and support and challenge. It’s a wild place filled with brilliant minds, technological tools, big hearts, and incredible hope.”
What have you learned from families with babies throughout your career?
I have learned about the incredible connection and bond that occurs between babies and their caregivers—it’s one that transcends language and circumstance. I’ve learned that parents and caregivers are resilient beyond measure as they continue to attend to the needs of their babies in the face of the devastation, overwhelm, and fear that often accompany oncology diagnoses. I’ve learned that a baby’s bright eyes and open-mouthed-smile can fuel my joy for days.
What might people not understand about living in the hospital?
Living in the hospital provides a paradoxical mix of safety and intrusion, containment and unpredictability, and support and challenge. It’s a wild place filled with brilliant minds, technological tools, big hearts, and incredible hope. It’s also a place where babies and families must adjust to the constant swirl of providers coming in and out of their room, hospital policies that keep folks safe but might also introduce inconvenience, and—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—isolation. When babies and children are admitted to Doernbecher, this usually means that families are disrupted, with some members at home and some in the hospital, which can be rough. Life shrinks to fit into the hospital room, while also expanding to include so much new learning about cancer, treatment, grief, loss, and hope.
“I’ve learned that a baby’s bright eyes and open-mouthed-smile can fuel my joy for days.”
