Inconsistent! Company touts a great work and life balance but in reality it is not balanced at all! benefits are a joke.
Information is constantly changing even when it is coming from the same person, and is definitely an issue across different employees. Heck, they cannot even agree on a name. It's direct care professional or mental health worker depending on the day of the week and mood of the employee. While it make seem like a silly complaint it just goes to show the inconsistencies and constant state of flux that the company is in.
The interviewing process, including the observation, does not really go in-depth on what the job is really like. The director I interviewed with and the staff I observed never discussed how you need to use physical restraints with the clients. When it was mentioned at the beginning of training they glossed over it like it's a "we're going to teach you but you won't really use it" kinda attitude. However, once full-shift observations started those of us in training were shocked at how often staff must use restraints on clients. The last day of training we had to practice on each other for over 6 hours! They claimed their techniques do not harm us and we would be fine, but I'm filled with bruises and cannot move my neck. My other co-workers can barely move their backs and knees.
Basically all the information that was shared during the interview process turned out to be inaccurate. For example,When I did the initial phone interview I was asking about how shifts work. I was told full time must work every single Sat and Sun then two days during the week. This location does not rotate weekends. Doesn't sound like a great life and work balance. Since I'm in school and have class on Sat I asked about the overnight shift. I was told that on overnights I could work Sat and Sun night. However, once I started doing training I learned that most units have a Sunday through Wednesday or a Wednesday through Saturday shift. I was also never told I would have to work alone. Sorry after only observing 3 shifts I do not feel comfortable being alone with 12 clients with physical aggression issues. Another example is when I asked about benefits. I was told that part timers receive benefits yet when they called me to offer the job they stated I would get no benefits. I asked about the information given to me before and he said well only part timers who get over 35 hours get benefits. I wanted to ask "then why, when you know I was interviewing for a position for less than 35 hours, would you tell me that yes part timers get benefits?" The last example, and my biggest complaint, is the director asked if there is a particular population that I would not want to work with. I stated that due to my previous work with survivors of sexual assault I may have bias issues and have been recommend by my previous supervisor to not work with sexual offenders. He said that would not be a problem. Yet, during training when I spoke with the scheduler she said that she cannot guarantee that she won't schedule me with the sexual offenders. This was after we were told that we cannot refuse to work at a specific unit or we could be fired. So then why ask if there was a population that I would not want to work with?
They claim to offer a great balance between work and life which is a joke. I have a friend who works there and had a fever of 102 and they would not let her leave. That's not great for her health or the kiddos she is working with. She could have passed on the illness she came down with while on her shift. Because of the limited request off slots it is almost impossible to get time off unless you plan a month or more ahead of time.
You get no real break on your shift other than a bathroom break. You are expected to eat when the kids are eating or when they are preoccupied with a game or movie. While there are some 8 hour shifts most are 10 hours. If you are working a 10 shift and the incoming shift is not comfortable being left alone right away you have to stay. My overnight shifts are 11:30 pm-9:30 am and I was told to expect to stay until 11. Not easy to do when you've had no real break or time away from the units.
Company does not offer holiday pay and if your shift lands on the holiday you have to work it.
It's difficult to build relationships with co-workers because most of them have a chip on their shoulder. During my first observation shift the guy put one ear bud in and was watching anime instead of getting to know me and talking about the job and unit. The other employee I met did not even acknowledge me for the first 15 minutes. And then she barely spoke to me and wouldn't even look at me. I get it. It's a high turn over rate and so people leave quickly, but treat me with some respect. It really messes with moral when I am trying to learn my job but I'm met with ignorance.
Another issue is the stench of this place! Most of the buildings are not really built well for inpatient care. The bedrooms are down long narrow hallways and in dark basements. Not great for monitoring them at night. Each building smells horrible. Like athlete's foot, sweat, and mold. I can't even handle it for a 10 hour shift, so I can't imagine how the children deal with it. Of course the admin building is beautifully built and maintained.
Basically, I have felt lied to about what the position entails and I am treated like crap by the employees. This is just the training process and I'm already to quite.
