Vantaggi
Lots of experience with and exposure to complex medical problems. EXCELLENT wound care program. Doctors (all but one) truly seem to care about the patients' well-being. For the most part, staff pulls together in true emergencies. Vent weaning program is good. Get to establish real connections with patients. Some patients come back to visit after recovery. Patients that other facilities can't help and are not expected to live are sent there and because of the direct care staff, go on to live their lives.
Svantaggi
Where to start? Out dated/non-functioning equipment, building is in disrepair. Environment appears cluttered and unprofessional. "Behavioral" patients abuse staff and scare other patients. Certain patients have certain rules. Same goes for staff. Management concerned ONLY with the bottom line, doesn't care about staff or patients at ALL. Pay freezes seem permanent, wages are the lowest they can get away with. NO education assistance. In house education is thrown together at the last minute based on what diagnosis is coming through the door at that exact moment. Evidence based practice is non-existent. Staff morale is in the toilet and management refuses to acknowledge that fact. Management blames direct care staff for all problems and expects direct care staff to "fix" it and "step up to the plate", yet refuses to provide resources, guidance or support and when someone DOES come up with ideas, they are ALL shot down immediately with NO consideration. Management institutes "policies" that make no sense and do so with what appears to be little to no forethought. Paper charting in triplicate, using forms from another organization from the 1990's. Promised EHR will NEVER happen because the company insists on creating one from scratch instead of paying for ones that are already proven to work. Unsafe staffing ratios. Unbelievably high turn over rate at all levels of the organization. NO standing protocols. Must call the doctor for EVERYTHING... (and then take the butt-chewing that comes along with so many calls). Limited to NO resources available in house (but you BETTER be able to justify sending someone out). In house lab is a joke, results are inaccurate, but instead of fixing the machine/hiring people who know what they're doing, just adjust the normal values to match what the machine says. Management plays favorites. If they "like" you, you have opportunities and get recognition for your hard work. If they don't, the only things you hear about are bad and you often won't even hear about your "shortcomings" until your review, so you never had an opportunity to fix the problem, if you were even aware there WAS a problem. Management NEVER comes to the floor unless the stuff is hitting the fan. Management tells you that you have "autonomy" which translates to "you're on your own". Management is made up of "yes-men". CNAs have more authority than the nurses. NO room for career growth unless you're a "yes-man" AND only if they "like" you. Annual "scramble" to prepare for surveys. Crappy, unaffordable insurance. NO other benefits. Good old boy's club is RAMPANT! Direct care staff is solely responsible for ensuring rooms are ready for patients. Beds are left unmade instead of being set up and ready for patients. ALL furniture is absolute crap and is often unsafe for patient use. Not all rooms have phones or white boards for patient information. Some don't even have clocks.