We're getting closer to the end of the "budget crunch" but at a cost. Has anyone noticed how burned out everyone is getting from working understaffed? Assaults are starting to rise too as patients seem to be aware of our plight and are taking advantage of it.
Sure we're saving a lot of money and so far are staying open, but at a cost. I don't know about you, but I'm afraid administration will think that the current way of operating will be too comfortable and will want to keep it that way after the new fiscal year starts.
If the current rate of burn out and assaults increases there may not be any staff left who are willing to keep working here. When will it end? I fear that it won't and we'll be expected to keep "saving our ship" into the new fiscal year. It's time to start making some noise about this and make it known that this money saving venture comes at a cost to staff and patients.
Patients are not getting the attention they need and are definitely not getting the treatment they need to "recover". We have truly become a warehouse now and it's a shame because this could be a really good "hospital".
Orpheus
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12 comments:
Is anyone out there ?? does anyone care anymore where is everyone????
It is unsafe. Patients' and staffs' saftey is at high risk. HMG knows this. Kind of like taking a road trip and the last 100 miles on bald tires with no spare the road is getting rocky and you just hope you make it to the end with out people getting hurt.
well have you seen what our great dcn has to say we that are not rn are not prof staff lets creat a bigger rift lets run off more staff lets make the client we have known for 20 yrs feel as ifwe dont know who they are lets run shifts with 2 or more pools just so ther is enough bodies on the unit so iwell e mail the gov and his wife and send along copies of these memo the most they can do is fire me
I am sick and tired of the talk by HMG about budget crisis. Do they not see that many staff are opting for retirement and the spike in sick calls? What about units being ran by solely pools staff, not knocking pool staff, but what happened to the 50% rule? The stupidity abounds and those in charge would be lucky to still be “pushing pills” to old folks in a nursing if this was the real world and not an inefficient government entity. How about the “bad seeds” they move from unit to unit that make the staffs quickly transfer when they come to their units. Honestly, the “nut jobs” that we cringe when we see are still here helping people decide to retire or new staff decide that this is just a short term job also. How about the managers that can see a staff for years that helps their unit and barely even speak to them? You wonder why people don’t like your units or the staff members with zero personality and dysfunctional attitudes that also help to get their teams blacklisted by the staff that do overtime. If our checks were tied to our personality like in sales many would not get a penny deposited into their account.
Here is what needs to happen:
1. Replace most of the managers and eliminate positions that overlap.
2. Begin to weed out the “wack jobs” that destroy unit cohesion and cost units money. Start with the assault team.
3. Start to rotate staff at least once a month to other units. The reason so many team staff have become so comfortable and entitled that they many times treat new employees or those helping out like shet (that if they even speak to them). It will help them to know others within the hospital and build communication and larger organizational team building.
4. Fire the Director, yes he is just a figurehead, but he is also incompetent, weak and not very personable.
5. Begin to provide perks that help to motivate staff to work extra or go above their job descriptions. Examples; shift bonuses, overtime after 12 hour shifts, gift certificate and more. Yes, it is a long shot, but quality organizations provide such perks to employees.
6. Provide upward mobility for those that continue their education, display a quality personality and can help the hospital move forward.
7. Begin to acknowledge that are techniques, units, hospital at large, psychiatric treatments are not only outdated and archaic, but detrimental to assisting clients’ integration back to society. Therefore, begin to provide training, tuition reimbursement and add actual value to those that have kept up on current trends within the sociology and psychology field and stop rewarding those that introduce ideas that have been outdated since the “Dick Van Dyke show” was cancelled.
8. Why is the hospital so backwards in relation to diversity? I have walked on some of these units and you would think I was working in Bailey and not Metropolitan Denver. I mean we service all kinds of American cultures, but there might be a token Hispanic, Black, or Asian person and usually not more than one per shift if any. Ever look at some of the picture boards? This is the first place I have ever worked in the psychiatric field that did not have a diverse employee population especially considering the diversity of our patients. All successful companies embrace diversity (actual fact) and it also cuts down on “group think” mentality that makes those of different cultures feel uncomfortable. There are maybe one or two units that look and represent those within the Denver area, but many others that could be mistaken for a mental health unit in a small town in Idaho. Let us be honest about this it is not only a hindrance to our personal growth and understanding of others, but a disservice to our customers.
9. Begin to make this place more lively and fun. I have worked many places within the mental health field and this place is boring, dark, and full of shetty attitudes and just plain dull.
10. Replace those that do the hiring, have you seen some of those that were hired in the last couple of years either; overeducated with zero personality or undereducated with skills barely above flipping burgers or working the cash register at the local community college book store. Sheesh!
A. A clinician position should only be a Bachelor’s level position. Therefore, would it not be a warning sign if master’s level people are applying, I would be wondering why they can’t get a professional job.
A. They might be crazy.
B. They have a personality disorders that limits them in their employment prospects.
C. A criminal record.
D. Certifiably weird.
E. An addiction.
F. Limited motivation.
G. Fear of responsibility and would rather just fold towels and hand out toothbrushes to patients.
H. Or let me say it again they might just be crazy.
11. Begin early retirement perks. Let us be honest many with years in here are “burned out” and will likely be the last generation to retire from here. Sorry, but most new employees do not have intentions of sticking around for more than a couple of years and a lot of new employees are older than those close to retiring.
The reason for early retirement:
A. It would force management to recruit beyond HSS and change the work environment to attract educated talent or face swelling budgets due to overtime and liability related to hiring less experienced and educated people to fill positions.
B. This would be forced by a revolving door, because the current work environment is toxic and provides minimal psychiatric treatment that is one step above a prison.
C. With many retiring it would very hard to hold retirement over new employees’ heads since most employees stay at one job less than 4 years, and if the job sucks they move on even quicker.
These are just observations from someone that could give a damn less if they closed this hospital tomorrow. We can complain, but I believe the reality is that this hospital is on borrowed time and could be beneficial to the community if it closed and was razed to the ground. Hopefully to start anew with new management and vision.
Sincerly,
Unimpressed Noobie
Dear Unimpressed Noobie, Thankyou for aleast putting forth some insight and some great ideas...To bad you aren't in the small HMG group they need ECT to help get thier brains moving again in a positive direction for clients and staff..Oh that's right they only care about themselves..... Thanks again
Dear Noobie,it seems that you have assimilated well into the line staff culture at The Fort as evidenced by your insights,criticisms, anger and thoughtful suggestions.
A few remarks struck me as going beyond the obvious critiques(such as the need to dump most of the managers)into more cruel and or just plain ignorant ones.
Let me guess, by "the assault team" you probably mean Team 5; hate to tell you but assaults happen on all of the units.So, how does "the assault team" fit into your rotation plan ?
Your maligning remarks about the non-professional,Masters-prepared staff may have some shred of truth,but I wonder if some of your venom is mis-placed.I don't know about you,but I personally know that finding employment in mental health in this area is not so easy.I assume you would like to have your continued education ,completion of a Masters,supported by the State of CO; if so ,where would you work for a living? None of us feel any professional satisfaction from being bathroom monitors.
It is not clear to me why you are staying in such a repugnant work situation.Could it be that you like many of us have had higher hopes and ideals which,after piles of paperwork and hours of service chores rather than meaningful interactions with the clients,have been deflated at best?
I wonder where you would go if the hospital were to close tomorrow? Where would the clients go or did you forget about them ? Granted,you are probably venting out of frustration
I applaud your suggestion for more fun-right on ! I'd like to recommend a fun activity for you - the study of English grammar and spelling.Maybe a group for remedial English for the staff could be made available....sign me up.
No, there isnt anyone there and that we havent noticed in a long time, doesnt really speak well of our groundedness or reality checking does it??????
Whineing never actually got anyone out of Hell,mommy and daddy arent here.Victim training. Stop,take notice once in a while,instead of working harder (like in dysfunctional families)doesnt usually yield results and is self perpetuating and is sick and what the" system" propagates,a snake chaseing its tail,so one doesnt notice whats going on. Go on and do it if you want, but remember , no good deed goes unpunished.
I am all for english grammar,lets hear it for intelligent articulation of our joint frustrations.
Secondly, yes, we do have some borderline personality disordered persons and control freaks and frankly disturbed persons working here along with sprinkles of histrionics around,which make the job,well........what can I say......we all experience this. and FUN...........Let's see now..................is fun something that actually happens in this environment of impoverishment and state funded insanity.........hummmmmmmmm
What's with this "personality",thing??This isnt a personality contest.................people focused on "developing a personality" are usually socio paths. Personality isnt something self conciously "created", And it isnt constructed for the Other,
This is a sick and destructive use of the whole idea of personality.What a weird concept.People have internal lives,you might be more interested in that instead of wanting to be entertained by your coworkers who might be more interested in doing their jobs,instead of "entertaining you with their personalities".
Dear Noobie
Take a "how to win friends and influence people course,while you are still in school and have the opportunity.
Yaaasirrr,Now I got a quality personality,I know jus what youse mean,brother.I am sick and tired of this too,yaasirr,I am,and I preciate any and all of your words bout education and that thing about actual fact, and other companies. Where is Bailey anyhow??
Dear Unimpressed Noobie:
You may be unimpressed, but why should we care what you think? You lose credibility with the offensive way in which you express yourself, and with your shoddy spelling and grammar. Your writing reflects the organization of your mind, which is unimpressive. You talk about "over-educated" staff, but you come across as being extremely under-educated. Are you one of those ridiculous people who imagine that being under-educated is a virtue? Educate and inform yourself before you criticize others.
You sound like a very angry, ignorant person. You are not helping get your ideas across by being so offensive both in what you say and how you say it.
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