Pros
Schedule is great they really work with you and understand everyone has a life. But expect to work weekends at least every other weekend. If you fight hard enough they will increase Pay not much though. Food is okay. Most units are close knit. 50% of employees have worked there 8 or more years. Great learning experience. It literally teaches you how to deal with patients with mental illnesses. I’ve learned So much patience from this place. If you want overtime this is the place for you.
Cons
30% of employees have only worked there for 2 -4 years. 20% of employees have been there a year or less. Which means most employees don’t know how to handle stressful situations. It’s extremely stressful every day is completely different. I’ve seen 10 admissions and 10 discharges in one unit in one shift. Other days it’s slow. Higher ups expect you to know time management and expect you to take a 30 min break every 5 hours which seems impossible when things are going on and the unit acuity is high. Oh this is not a long term job it’s a short term experience unless you can handle serious stress. Seriously everyday I’m stressed I even get nightmares of this place. Yet some days it’s okay maybe even great. Don’t ever do full time here it will burn you out so quickly. I’ve seen people get injured not only patients but staff as well. I’ve seen employees get cussed out by patients over as simple as a sandwich. Every day is different but that’s how it is working with patients with mental illnesses. Some days I literally just want to cry because it can get so overwhelming so easily but you don’t even have time to cry so you have to keep going. No one cares about your complaints they just want results and money. Supervisors try to help but they are under a lot of stress as well. There’s not any restraints so expect to be holding down a patient from 20 mins to maybe even an hour and a half. All while getting yelled, kicked, scratched, punched and spit at. It’s not an every day thing but it happens every so often.