Rewarding work with an underserved & overlooked population of mentally ill, committed patients.
Pros
It is a small work group, and you’ll get to know everyone who works there. Managers are flexible and will work with staff to allow time to tend to the needs of their own families. HR is also helpful and flexible in working with staff and managers. The work is physically light, generally no lifting, tube feeds, etc. Staff will have many opportunities to engage and support a very vulnerable and underserved patient population. Occasionally it is necessary for staff to apply hands-on restraint for erratic, violent behavior. You will get regular training on this, called EASE (effective & safe engagement). Behaviors of patients are initially tough, until they are stabilized, but ultimately rewarding.
Cons
Patients are significantly mentally unstable. Rather than utilizing the health industry standard of CPI, the State health services have their own version which is called EASE. Managers can seem insensitive to the needs of the unit (staffing & patient acuity). It can be a rigid environment for patients, and management of the patient community areas is placed on the charge RNs. There is minimal to zero direct care nursing input which can be frustrating for professional nurses. Rather than collaborating and engaging the experiences of staff, management - both locally and from the top (Anoka) do not engage nurses in policy development or practice improvement, which results in very poor buy-in and support from unit staff. This could be a phenomenal workplace but it requires massive changes for success. Local management also has little say in the changes that are pushed down from higher levels. Overall, extremely ineffective at optimizing staff knowledge and talent to support patients.