Misleading job expectations and isolation
Pros
Interacted with some lovely fellow employees. Enjoyed the patient population overall.
Cons
I was regularly stuck in a room with a psych patient for 4-8 hours with minimal breaks or relief. Wasn't allowed to leave for patient's safety. Wasn't allowed to touch patient or assist nurses (not sure if this has changed since my time there), which made many nurses hate me. Wasn't provided self defense/de-escalation training until several months after starting. Wasn't even provided with mental health care training except for a few modules. Job posting was misleading. The job was, at the time I was there, PATIENT SITTER, and should have been referred to as such. I would have had a better idea of what I was getting into had there been more transparency upfront.
