psychiatric nurse

registered nurse

nursing supervisor

director of nursing

scheduler

Anchor-Hospital

Out of any job I've ever had, Anchor Hospital was my favorite place to work. Honestly, there is so many positive things I can say, I cannot fit it all in here, but I will try my best. A job is what you make it. No job is perfect, as there is good and bad to every job. I will start with the positive............. Working with this vulnerable population who are suffering and in mental/emotional crisis at the time of receiving inpatient services, and assisting them, addressing their needs, watching over them, taking care of them, sometimes bringing comfort to them with assuring words, and putting smiles on their faces........ absolutely made my day and was the best part of the job! The patients are examples of resilience, strength, and courage in the face of emotional pain, suffering, and anguish, and they show us all that even when you feel like giving up on life, that it's worth it to just keep fighting and keep living. There are awesome workers there, with an array of backgrounds, knowledge, experience, and unique gifts and qualities to bring to the table. There are workers there that genuinely care about their work, and are very supportive of other staff members. As for the job in and of itself, everyday is unique and unlike any other day, and everyday is a learning experience. The employee training was awesome, and actually fun. Personally, it was a very meaningful job with purpose and I was honored to have the experience of working at Anchor. I'd love to share why............ I've been a patient there myself several times, and had the privilege of working there for over a year...... So my review is coming from being a person on both sides of the spectrum. So, as you can tell, working at Anchor was more than just a job for me........it was an integral part of my recovery and my life. Anchor will always have a special place in my heart, as both a patient and a worker..... There are some great staff members. All positions in the hospital are important, but the MHA position is extremely important, the main ones who set the milieu on the units, spend the most time with the patients and care for the patients more directly and actively than all other staff in the hospital.....there is room for improvement......#1) The patients NEED more activities, and more groups! That is the number one thing that would make everything better!! It would keep the patients active and occupied, less bored, less agitated, and way less prone to fighting or acting out. It would make everyone's jobs easier, there would be way less incidents, and the hospital experience for both patients and staff would vastly improve. #2) The staff NEEDS to really work on the way that they talk to and treat the patients! It's a serious problem! It's not just at Anchor, it's at all mental hospitals. I'm particularly referring to the nurses, and especially the MHAs. The nurses' jobs are stressful, but the nurses get paid very nicely. The MHAs have the most stressful job in the entire hospital, but get paid the least. The MHAs deserve a higher pay for all the work they really do. The nurses NEED to treat the MHAs with more respect and recognize that the MHAs do hard work that no one else is doing. Now, as for the MHAs, it is the most high stress job in the hospital.......but, the MHAs especially NEED to work on how they talk to the patients! Everyone has their stresses,.....but the patients are going through things mentally/emotionally that most of the staff can not even fathom, nor will EVER understand. No text book or clinical education or experience will ever teach the staff what it is like to have a first hand experience of having a mental health and/or substance use condition. However, there are such things as empathy, compassion, care, comfort, support, and good listening. The patients are not animals in cages, nor are they criminals doing time, yet the way that the staff treats them is like they are talking to animals in a zoo or to criminals in a jail. They talk down to the patients as if they are nothing or nobody, which makes the patients suffering even worse. The patients don't need a shot and seclusion for every little thing, nor every time they rightfully get angry, especially if YOU are the one that made them angry. A shot or seclusion should be used sparingly to protect the safety of the staff and patients, not because you were personally offended by something the patient said to you. The staff NEEDS to understand that treating people this way makes the patients' experience in the hospital like an oppressive jail/prison............and you are the warden. THIS NEEDS TO STOP! The staff needs to keep in mind that this is a hospital that's supposed to help people feel better and recover.......not be a source of oppression and re-traumatization. If the shoe were on the other foot, you would not want to be treated like that at all. Just because people have mental health conditions, does not mean they are beyond help and without hope. The staff needs to stop thinking that they are better than or superior to the patients, and stop judging. The patients have jobs, education, businesses, spouses, careers, and children, just like you do. When they come to the hospital, they are just experiencing a moment of hardship.....it doesn't mean that they will never get back on their feet....... I am living proof of that. Stop treating the patients like they are dogs, and start treating them like they are human beings, just like you. You are not exempt from problems, so stop thinking that that you are above them. It may take only a moment or an event for you yourself to be in the same position as they are in, and be up in the hospital with a hospital gown on and your hair looking a mess. Let it be you......and I guarantee that you would want to be treated with dignity and respect and humanity too. You never know how the tables may turn. The staff should be thoroughly trained on how to treat the patients way better than they do. It should be common sense.....to treat others the way you yourself want to be treated. Like, if a patient is acting out, or being irate..... DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY!  It's not about you. The patient is going through things that you cannot understand, nor relate too. Yelling back at them or arguing with them is never the answer, in fact, it always makes matters worse, for you and for them, and for the whole unit. Adding flames to the fire is counter productive. You can only put fire out with water....... Kindness, care, compassion, empathy, and respect goes a long way to come down or de-escalate an angry patient that is acting out. The whole year I've worked at Anchor, no patient has ever purposely treated me with disrespect....... Because I always treat them with respect. You get from the patients what you give out. If you keep treating them like dogs, they will keep biting back and turning on you. Period. Take the example if the C.E.O............. the patient mentioned earlier was very frustrated and doing some damage to the property.......... Many of the nurses and MHAs would've gave her a shot or put her in seclusion.... But the C.E.O. did not do that.......He cared more about the patient than the property! He consoled her, encouraged her, and offered to do anything he could to help her. If the CEO who's at the highest position can treat others with respect and dignity, why can't you nurses and MHAs do the same????? If you guys did that, the hospital environment would be much, much better. To be quite honest, if you don't know how to talk to or treat people with kindness, dignity, and respect, you do NOT need to be working in mental health AT ALL. You are adding to the patients pain and suffering, and actually oppressing them, and not providing quality mental health services. You do not need to be aggressive or domineering with the patients to gain their respect and cooperation. Yes you need to be firm, but not dictatorial, disrespectful, harsh or judgemental. What if your family member was in the mental hospital???? Would you be okay with the staff treating your family member the way that you treat the patients? If not, then you NEED to re-evaluate yourself and change your approach. The best workers that I've seen at Anchor are the ones that can control the whole unit, keep things orderly, follow the rules, gain respect and cooperation from the patients, and do their jobs well, without even having to raise their voice, not one time, and even if they do have to speak firmly, they do it with care and concern, not anger or aggression.............Those are the only complaints I have. Other than that, working for Anchor for me, was wonderful! If circumstances would permit, I'd work there again in a heartbeat! 

I've worked at Anchor for several years doing both direct care and a quasi-management role, so I've observed the changes (both positive and negative) in hospital leadership, culture, patient care, clinical safety and the overall "feel" of the hospital.

Due to the nature of the work (e.g., caring for a wide variety of patients with mental health/substance abuse needs), it's very challenging. Caring for people who are in crisis and may want to actively harm themselves or even you is definitely not easy, so nurses, social workers and mental health associates (MHAs) are tasked with a difficult job that requires vigilance, compassion, teamwork, skill, and true love for the work.

Balancing all that on day-to-day basis is hard, but speaking from my own experience, it's beyond rewarding when you actually see/help patients get better (e.g., get on the correct meds, become oriented and stable, start processing trauma in groups, learn better coping skills, etc).

Some good changes have already happened (e.g., culture is safer with more accountability) but hospital has not "arrived" yet. 

Overall, very glad/encouraged to see new leadership and direct care staff with a renewed focus on upgrading the facility, teamwork, and keeping both patients and each other safe.

Managment changes every 3 months
They can not keep a director for that long. They have had 4 interm CEO and Directors within the last 2 years. Terrible management and Human Resource. The attitudes at this job allows for people to try to talk to you any kind of way and treat you any kind of way. Human resource gives you interviews according to if they like the way you look or act towards them, they do not even care about your credentials. They will put people with little to no experience in high acute settings. Terrible place to work seriously. Please Please Please think hard about what type of employment environement you are used to before working here. They also underpay you for the work that needs to be done. Other employees put their work off on you also. They don't staff properly for the census of patients therefore you will have to cover other's shift. They did not want to pay me for my professional licensure when I recieved it while working there. It took them 3 months to pay me for my LMSW. Not a good place to work, unless you are entry level.

As an Mental health associate at Anchor hospital I had the opportunity to observe the different states of mental health illness. The environment consist of adolescence, geriatrics, and detox patients who were all experiencing some form of psychosis. I was responsible for observing/documenting patients behavior, exercising expressive therapy, and maintaining medical records. 
Many days at the workplace was unpredictable and difficult, due to the environment itself. In which the patients may become violent towards staff or each other. Although training for such behavior was provided, it didn't dictate the potential escalation. 
However, during this experience I observed that mental health has no respect of persons. And has given another purpose for me to provide exceptional patient care.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The bonds you form with co-workers. Trust is paramount in a psych facility

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Short staffing. Supervisors, and management who are not implementing proper communication tactics.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is stressful especially on the high acuity units. As in many other institutions favoritism/nepotism is evident when selecting staff for advancement.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You must be on your toes and know your patients and what stage of recovery they are in to anticipate where a disturbance or emergent situation may arise.

I had a lot of hope at Anchor due to the amount of opportunities available for advancement. There is also a high turnover rate, which made new jobs available quickly. However, the workplace environment was extremely stressful, non-supportive, hectic, and dangerous at times due to the nature of the individuals we served there. I experienced terrible management from the director of social services, and I feel that I would have remained at this job for far longer if this individual had not been in charge of my department. The most difficult part of the job was the stressful, fast-paced environment that allowed for very little time to make effective and appropriate treatment choices. The best part of the job was my co-workers, who I still greatly miss to this day.

short staff, admin is all about getting patients who have great insurance. Be prepared to put your safety at risk an not be appreciated for it! Management will smile in your face an use your strength when it’s convenient for them but will also shun you when it puts them in a situation. The turnover rate is high, well very high. It’s been 3 nurse managers, that have left. We’re on our second CRO an 3rd CNO. The company covers up to the state very well but also do illegally things as well as put patients an staff in harms way but having two techs on a hall with 24 patients which some are verbally an physically aggressive which can trigger multiple of people

A very dangerous place to work sometimes due to the type of patients that come. Under staffed and the culture of the hospital is unprofessional. The nursing staff needs to be properly educated on medicine administration. The hospital keeps getting the same patients continuously because they are not doing a good job at providing mental health services. Many patients leave out worst than they came. The pay is terrible but there are good benefits. The parking lot is terrible and there are potholes everywhere. A very nasty and ghetto place to work. A lot of the staff is miserable. 

On the bright side a lot is changing due to the new CEO and hopefully for the better.

They are going to overload your caseload and expect you to get it done in less than 8 hours. You learn a lot and see extreme cases so thats valuable. Management is going to push for whatever gets the most money. Protect yourself and your credentials. During my time the most enjoyable part of it was my coworkers in my department. The hardest parts of the job were the unrealistic expectations and lack of resources. Also instability of leadership. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Helping the patients work through their problems 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The upper management is very unprofessional, nasty, rude. They don’t care about the patients  they care about the dollar. They definitely don’t care about the staff.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Toxic is a understatement seriously 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Depending on what unit you’re working, it could be an easy day. It could be a very hard and stressful Depending on what unit you’re working, it could be an easy or it could hard stressful and dangerous.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Psychiatric nurse 9 salaries reported	$39.54 per hour
Registered nurse 12 salaries reported	$40.71 per hour
Nursing supervisor 6 salaries reported	$48.43 per hour
Director of nursing 3 salaries reported	$111,199 per year
Scheduler 2 salaries reported	$22.55 per hour

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