nursing assistant

registered nurse

licensed practical nurse

cook

certified dietary manager

Atrium Centers Inc

The Timbers is an average nursing home.  The management, as usual, believes in the bottom line more than they believe in patient well-being. Many CNA staff are sent home or have hours cut when the patient census is low, and when they do need the staff, they have to scramble to find replacements.  Many CNAs quit, so there is always a job opening, but between the demeaning words and actions of the nurses toward the CNAs and backstabbing petty office politics, even those few new hires quickly move on to greener pastures.  Scheduling is a joke, there are never enough CNAs on a floor, and even when there is enough staffing, there is little to no cooperation between them because everyone is afraid to get "ratted out" for the littlest thing.  Petty jealousy abounds among the nurses, CNAs and every other employee.  It is a hostile and stressful work environment.  

Caring for patients is wonderful, and the residents are the best part of the job.  Sadly, there is little focus on the residents, and much more focus on rushing around and trying to get things done before your shift ends, so you can't truly care for your residents.  Many tasks are left half done because of this focus on speed before care. As far as a caring environment, The Timbers fails in this regard.  

Atrium Living Centers is the parent company, and most of their policies focus on a business model instead of a patient care model.  The policies are archaic.  Employee performance reviews are a joke, as they are not allowed to give anyone more than an "average" review because "Corporate" does not want to see any above average or excellent reviews. 

The woeful treatment of employees continues and Timbers will never be a five star establishment until the management wakes up and sees that it is ruining itself from within.  The pay is mediocre.  Many places in the area pay more.  Most people start their CNA career here as a springboard for experience.  After a year, those good people move on due to the company politics outlined above.   If a company doesn't appreciate its employees, it will never keep any good employees, and this is what this particular workplace excels at- driving away hard workers in favor of untrained ones. It's the bottom line, not care or compassion, that counts here.

The company itself is not bad to work for, there can be such great potential here. The management needs to work on communication between one another, working together better as a team, and taking responsibility where it is needed. The nursing floor needs to encourage a better floor orientation and making sure that the new staff are prepared. Be sure to be following through with providing education to all staff as needed, show value and respect for their employees. Employees like to feel valued and recognized, some look for the opportunity in advancement and to earn raises. (This can be for all the departments in the building). As stated earlier, the potential is there, but they need an administrator who will follow through and help them come together, there are some wonderful people who work in the building and have the best intentions at heart. The buildings DON needs to treat not only her staff better but staff in other departments better. Her number one priority should be her residents, but she also needs to take her staff and peers into consideration. 
The BOM is a very nice lady she tries to help in all departments even when she shouldn't. Her intentions are good the responsibilities of other departments or managers should not fall onto her plate.  
Most of the other department managers seem friendly & helpful at times.

Where to start with this toxic and mismanaged facility.
The priority should be the care of residents, but, the focus coming from upper management is strictly about money.
Residents are routinely neglected, and concerns brought to management are swept under the rug.
One of the hardest part of the job was having no training or communication from upper management, and then being expected to perform to their "standards". NOTHING was ever good enough.
There was different standards for different employees, and unless you were a favorite, 
your time at work would be miserable.
They use benefits and sign on bonuses as part of recruitment, and will offer "pick up bonuses" for picking up shifts. Don't fall for it. They will routinely withhold bonuses for any type of absence, and have an "oh well" attitude. As far as the benefits, the deductibles are expensive and the 401K match is a mere 25%. They are now "100% employee owned" - this is a gimmick. What that means is the employees making the most (upper management) get the most return. They will tell you AFTER you are hired that you are expected to work weekends and holidays. They will put more and more work on you and have unrealistic expectations as to the completion of tasks. There is a reason that there is a revolving door of employees even at the corporate level.
The attitude of management is you are disposable, and they will treat you as such.


A typical day at work is prob like most LTC centers. As the medication aide I pass meds to my residents, take vitals, get weights, answer lights, etc. I have a good team with a Nurse I can go to if needed and CNA’s that work hard for their residents! This is the place I first became a CNA at and I’ve learned too much to list! I’ve been taught by amazing people and I continue to learn something new everyday!  Our Management recently changed but I believe we have  great team of department heads. The Nursing Scheduler is Hands down one of the best I have worked with! She works hard to get your schedule the way you want it. The workplace culture is a positive, you are expected to work together, abide by the rules, and above all else put your resident first! The hardest part of the job is prob the same at all Nursing facilities….its having your resident become like family and going through the hard things with them! The most enjoyable part of the job is Making a difference! It might be small little acts you think nothing of but it matters to the residents and their families . Nothing beats getting a hug from a family member and being told you meant the world to their family member! As all jobs it’s not perfect, we have days where it’s hectic and stressful but being with a team that has your back that makes a difference.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The residents and their families! Most are locals from west Salem and share a bond of support for one another. It's wonderful how willing they are to help each other. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The public humiliation and constant caddiness of leadership. If they did not like you, they make no attempt to conceal it. Miserable.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Never have I encountered people so unwilling to consider that an authoritarian style of bully leadership is not how you achieve any sort of positive outcome.  Their contradictive practices guarantee a toxic workplace that punish and torture the unfortunate souls at the mercy of their "care". Just pray for the vulnerable adults living there and the few staff floundering to care for them. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Nocs: Arrive to learn of multiple call ins, meaning someone had been mandated to stay and were going to complain about how unfair it is instead of sharing report. But that person was only there for 4 hours and i would be the only nurse and 1-2 cnas for the last half if my shift for around 80 residents. If I was behind with anything by the time day shift arrived, I would be publicly humiliated for poor time management and pressured to clock out even if my charting was not done. Only to be called onto the carpet on another date for not charting.

Could barely stand 1 month at this labour-mill, once this attorney took ownership.  Would work night shift just praying that you had no staff call-ins, no deaths and no falls cuz management scheduled state minimums calling that "fully staffed."  Well, when 1 CNA called in us nurses had to do their job and RN job too.  If managers did not like documentation that shed bad light on the facility, you were coached into making it less damaging.  

One patient told me, "You need a union.  That's what's wrong w/this place."  For love of God, we even had to track how many diapers were used and post that on resident's "charge sheet."  These poor souls pay thousands per month, and then are charged again for diapers?!!!  I refused to play along. 

On day's off, fellow nurses and DON would call you at home to say, "we are desparate, would you be willing to come in tonight?" I responded "no thank you.  I'm not interested."  I also had to block an RN's phone, and also the DON's phone and the main Mulder's phone number cuz fellow over-worked RNs and DON did not understand that "day off" means just that.  You are on your day off.

I had to leave for medical reasons without notice:  I had heart attack symptoms 3 nights, on my last week there.  DON wanted me to come in for some bullying, and meet her and Director.  I refused!  Told her, "just so you can berate me?"  This place DOES NEED a union for sure. And do you know who hurts the most?  It is the residents!!!

Through my time at Plainwell Pines, I have learned to become a better manager and handle situations much more dilegently. I enjoy the work I do at the facility because I know I am making residents lives better and putting smiles on their faces. I do like interacting with the residents and getting to know their life stories while they are at the facility. Along with interacting with the residents, I have grown with the staff as well, being able to help them at work, as well as outside of work. A typical day at the facility would include checking my inbox for any thing that may need to be fixed. Getting input from staff on problem situations, ordering supplies for either maintenance or housekeeping/laundry. Making up schedules for my staff, ensuring my staff is happy and everything is going good for the day. Doing my life safety checks, which include testing the generator weekly, testing the fire pumps weekly, making sure the water temps are withing regulated control, making sure all lights in the facility are up and running, maintaining air temperatures through the facility withing regulation. Planning for projects that are coming up in the next few months, as well as, making sure the proper companies come to do their monthly/quarterly/or yearly inspections of devices and equipment.

When I went for my interview I came home and told my family it was like American Horror Story Asylum in there! I Would rather be without a job then go back to that h*llhole!  Absolutely terrible management ( mean, unhelpful, bad at their job) and super understaffed (one person is supposed to take care of 30+ people with no help!)  
They will harass you and try to make you come in on days not in your schedule… like just right you in and not tell you! Or change it up without telling you! My first week they gave me my schedule planned for 3 weeks… I was only scheduled for 3 days my first week but on the paper schedule at the facility they will just write you in without asking or caring and expect you to show up. I ended up having to work 7days in a row  my very first week when I was only “scheduled” 3 days for training! Training! If you try to talk to management about it they will tell you they don’t have time for you! Cray rude! They ended up just throwing me in and making me work alone taking care of 30+ people! I’ve never done anything like this in my life! So to say the least I was scared, stressed, a nervous wreck without a second to even use the bathroom. They had me doing things I was supposed to be certified when I wasn’t. 
 They cannot keep employees there and for some reason they don’t understand why. 
The way they would treat the residents there was heartbreaking :(

I was hired Mon-Fri,that changed due to the other Housekeepers complaining about what days I was hired for,so they started to make me split the weekends,I ended up working Mon-Fri one week having Sat off then worked Sun,Mon,got Tues off then worked Wens,Thurs,Fri had Sat off. The other staff NEVER picked up after themselves because "That's what Housekeeping is for". The other housekeeper tried to make me do my job and hers she would never take her trash out and wanted you to clean areas that were hers to do. The kitchen aids and most of the STNAs' except two would spill food in the halls and want you to clean it up. The STNAs',except two, would leave used adult pull ups on the floor for Housekeeping to clean up, and would leave BM drying on the toilets to the point that I had to scrape it off with a putty knife. 3rd shift would leave 5-9 60 Gal.Bags of trash for us to take out when we got there at 7A.M.,then they would never take the soiled trash out and we would have 3-5 30Gal. bags of used adult pull ups.to take out before we could even get started on our jobs.Every room is infested with ants,and the residents would ask us what we could do about it. The only good thing I can say about this place is the Administrator will jump in and get his hands dirty and work beside you,like he did the 3 days I was the only Housekeeper in the whole place. Save yourself the trouble and just don't work here.

The title says it all. The saff are nice but be prepared for management to choose favorites. You can put in double the work, do everything your suppose to do and more and yet you still will be under appreciated. It will be okay for your co workers to slack off making sure you have to pick up the majority of the work and no consequences will ever be made. Other than "i will talk to them" then still no change will be made after. They are more scared of being understaffed than to appreciate the hard workers they have. Yet the people who don't do their job right after months and months of being there will be praised and appreciated just because they show up. This is the most toxic place I ever worked at because of management. (I worked in dietary) The only reason it's hard to leave is because of the co workers you bond with. The CNA's, housekeepers and some of the dietary staff are absolutely amazing. Trust me if you feel under appreciated when you work here it's true. It's not just a feeling or in your head. Find somewhere to go where your wanted instead of just needed. Respect yourself enough to go somewhere where your value is recognized instead of taken advantage of. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Nursing assistant 65 salaries reported	$20.99 per hour
Registered nurse 20 salaries reported	$33.06 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 21 salaries reported	$34.04 per hour
Cook 15 salaries reported	$16.87 per hour
Certified dietary manager 1 salary reported	$37,500 per year

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