Pros
Pros would be all the great relationships you can build with patients (when you have the time) I have worked here for many years and appreciate the patients who applaud me with helping them in anyway I can. The pay is great as long as you’ve started here long enough to get your step bonuses faster meaning you have to work a certain amount of hours to reach a pay increase. (seniors starting pay can actually be lower then someone who’s had more seniority you are only getting credited for the amount of time they’ve already spent here although the cap can be higher for a Senior.) Another pro goes for the hospital in it’s entirety if you have seniority and have had multiple years of experience working with in you have more benefits when it comes to Holidays, PTO/Vacation, Low needs, Can works. Ect. They have a list most senior to least (amount of years worked in the union) that should be updated frequently to apply new hires to the lists the most senior employees should always have the first say unless they chose not to do so then the procedure the departments should follow is least senior and upward.
Cons
The lack of communication, it can be very stressful to do what you are trained to do when leaders do not communicate effectively. Each shift can vary meaning you can be placed into a different role each day though leaders will switch things around due to staffing and it may not be for the better outcome. When other associates voice their concerns it is often overlooked because we are not the leaders or charge though we do spend most of our days creating relationships and bonds with patients because it is our job to report back to their assigned nurse. I have noticed this with many places I’ve worked there is specific groups of people who are very cliquey and often gravitate to management and build those great relationships. Sadly those are the same groups who often have very snarky and cheeky remarks to people “below” them so when it comes to reporting these instances you’re often overlooked at as if you are someone who is “complaining” or a “ nuisance” management usually will use their emails to communicate so for someone who likes to have the one on one conversation this is not very effective as people are busy and attend to other things then reading their emails about an instance. There is a high turnover due to the type of job this is. It can be very hands on and stressful at times but I believe it is also due to the staff that are in charge picking at certain people and making snarky remarks it’s understandable to have a bad day but not appropriate to be chewing off the heads of your coworkers who are trying to make it a better day for you. There isn’t much of team work here everyone is burnt out because of the case loads we have but that comes to another issue of staffing, there’s not enough staff coverage to help with departments needs we have lots of special staffing throughout the units we need more helping hands there has been lots of times people don’t get a lunch break, get a glass of water or even a break to use the bathroom! Often times during shift changes someone might even be late to do hand offs and your stuck after your shift has ended until someone can come relieve you. Seniority helps you as long as you’ve been here sadly this department doesn’t implement it like the rest of the hospital does, I truthfully don’t believe some really want the union but if you care about excising you seniority rights they won’t implement them anyways because they have two contracts and it is fairly new to them. I suggest anyone that wants to work in mental health you consider what can come from this job.