Futility
So, our hospital took over management of the psychiatric unit that is inside the hospital. I'm an RN, I work lots of areas but I've been at my psych job for almost 12 years while working other jobs (at one time, I held four concurrent jobs).
In psych, I've worked with acute adults, adolescent sex offenders, acute geriatric, outpatient adult psych, residential psych, and forensic psych. I'm not saying I'm an expert but I'm good at what I do. I also work general med-surg and intensive care when I feel the need but that's at another hospital and outside the scope of this essay.
Well, as I said, the hospital decided it could manage the psych unit here better than the management company (I believe the 2nd or 3rd largest in the country) and booted them out. They then took the marketing director (approximately 26, female, BS in Business/Marketing) and made her the program director.
This person has no experience in psychiatry, psychology, counseling, medicine, nursing, social work, recreation or therapy of any kind related to any discipline. Yet this is the person pegged to run, coordinate, regulate, and oversee a psychiatric unit. Then, since the old social workers went with the management company, they have hired a new social worker, fresh out of school or nearly so with no psych social work experience. Oh, and the rec therapist is new to psych. And the intake coordinator is new to psych.
Now, as I said, I've been at this facility for almost 12 years and it was ran by one of the biggest management companies in psychiatric care in the country and they had very high standards. Our unit, once an award-winning program, has become a relative joke. There is no "program". We used to be what is considered a therapeutic milieu and now, I'm not sure anyone in a management position can spell milieu, much less articulate what such a program is. We're adrift in a sea of change and headed for the great barrier reef.
It is futile. Tonight, our esteemed program director basically admitted a patient. Now, never mind that only a physician can do that, or a nurse or PA with an order from a physician. With the other management company, the unit charge nurse ran the unit. The charge nurse makes assignments, directs care, and oversees the medication nurses and mental health techs, among other things. With our new program director and other neo-psych administration, we're floundering. I don't want to jump ship when things are bad. I've been here most of my real adult life. I want to go out on top.
But it's beginning to look more and more like it's not going to happen. It looks like in the end, I'll just have to switch over to my other job full time and leave this one behind. And it leaves me with such a feeling of futility and loss and frustration. The only saving grace is that others in the hospital see what's happening. The ER staff--oh, excuse me, they're called the ED staff now--have even said that our new program director (remember, she's a NON-clinician of any kind) has NO BUSINESS in their department talking with patients. That's kind of like having the hospital CEO involved in the medical management of a patient. He ain't qualified and neither is our program director.
Well you know what? FUCK THEM! I will work here for a while longer, mainly because I'm typing this entry on their dime. If they fire me, I'll get fired because Arkansas is an at-will employment state. As an RN, I have a license to protect. That's my livelihood. My career. I have a regulating body AND a little something called the Nurse Practice Act that I have to live by. I don't want to get fired but neither do I want to just give up and quit. I know if I stay long enough, our new management folks will self-destruct. My fear is, in their uninformed, unknowing stupor, they will involve the rest of the staff in their death spiral and take us with them.
Fuck the Po-lice!
Jb
In psych, I've worked with acute adults, adolescent sex offenders, acute geriatric, outpatient adult psych, residential psych, and forensic psych. I'm not saying I'm an expert but I'm good at what I do. I also work general med-surg and intensive care when I feel the need but that's at another hospital and outside the scope of this essay.
Well, as I said, the hospital decided it could manage the psych unit here better than the management company (I believe the 2nd or 3rd largest in the country) and booted them out. They then took the marketing director (approximately 26, female, BS in Business/Marketing) and made her the program director.
This person has no experience in psychiatry, psychology, counseling, medicine, nursing, social work, recreation or therapy of any kind related to any discipline. Yet this is the person pegged to run, coordinate, regulate, and oversee a psychiatric unit. Then, since the old social workers went with the management company, they have hired a new social worker, fresh out of school or nearly so with no psych social work experience. Oh, and the rec therapist is new to psych. And the intake coordinator is new to psych.
Now, as I said, I've been at this facility for almost 12 years and it was ran by one of the biggest management companies in psychiatric care in the country and they had very high standards. Our unit, once an award-winning program, has become a relative joke. There is no "program". We used to be what is considered a therapeutic milieu and now, I'm not sure anyone in a management position can spell milieu, much less articulate what such a program is. We're adrift in a sea of change and headed for the great barrier reef.
It is futile. Tonight, our esteemed program director basically admitted a patient. Now, never mind that only a physician can do that, or a nurse or PA with an order from a physician. With the other management company, the unit charge nurse ran the unit. The charge nurse makes assignments, directs care, and oversees the medication nurses and mental health techs, among other things. With our new program director and other neo-psych administration, we're floundering. I don't want to jump ship when things are bad. I've been here most of my real adult life. I want to go out on top.
But it's beginning to look more and more like it's not going to happen. It looks like in the end, I'll just have to switch over to my other job full time and leave this one behind. And it leaves me with such a feeling of futility and loss and frustration. The only saving grace is that others in the hospital see what's happening. The ER staff--oh, excuse me, they're called the ED staff now--have even said that our new program director (remember, she's a NON-clinician of any kind) has NO BUSINESS in their department talking with patients. That's kind of like having the hospital CEO involved in the medical management of a patient. He ain't qualified and neither is our program director.
Well you know what? FUCK THEM! I will work here for a while longer, mainly because I'm typing this entry on their dime. If they fire me, I'll get fired because Arkansas is an at-will employment state. As an RN, I have a license to protect. That's my livelihood. My career. I have a regulating body AND a little something called the Nurse Practice Act that I have to live by. I don't want to get fired but neither do I want to just give up and quit. I know if I stay long enough, our new management folks will self-destruct. My fear is, in their uninformed, unknowing stupor, they will involve the rest of the staff in their death spiral and take us with them.
Fuck the Po-lice!
Jb
posted by benaires at 8/11/2005 04:00:00 AM
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