screener

nursing assistant

registered nurse

health screener

licensed practical nurse

Avalon Health Care Group

They use A LOT of agency nurses. Orders can go unprocessed for DAYS - even stat lab orders. Narcs went missing. Wound vacs left off for multiple shifts. Dressings unchanged and very overdue. A lot of patients are from homeless background - have fun with behavioral and psych issues! Patients could hit and curse at staff, and nothing was done about it. Patients getting drunk or high on the premises. They couldn't get a Director of Nursing, or other key management positions to stay long - they use "travelers". High Turnover of floor nurses. Felt like a big gossip culture. The Unit Manager that they had would leave shifts early a lot, or take a lot of time off, or disappear in the middle of the day for hours, and she never worked as a SNF nurse before. She was supposed to cover a shift once and no-called/no-showed, and nothing was done about it! There were a few nice people there - like any place, but that facility has BIG PROBLEMS. If state goes in there and does any real digging, then it might be shut down for a while. Hopefully they get their act together. Therapy department was excellent. Nurse practitioner was excellent. Administrator gets a "C-" grade - nice guy on the surface, but not a leader. All SNFs are somewhat chaotic, but I would stay away from this one for a while - until they find a Director of Nursing who stays for 1+ years and use agency far less. On the bright side, if you are looking for opportunities to advance, then this is your ticket. If you are a floor nurse, and you want to try your hand at MDS or Unit Manager/RCM then you can get an opportunity there - because of the high turnover, those positions open up frequently.

This was an easy job as far as physical requirements, the residents are (for the most part) easy going, fun and talkative. The biggest challenge I found was that there were ample workers for the 'easier' shift 6am-2:00pm, and they were guaranteed 8 hours. I found the second shift 1:30-Close had twice as much responsibility, we had to finish any work the 1st shift didn't finish (or just felt like leaving to us) and we did it in less time. We weren't getting our lunch breaks or breaks, due to there being only 2-3 (and 3 on a good day) employees to do all the work, yet our lunch hour was deducted from our check. This isn't a problem that management was unaware of - there just wasn't anything that could be done. The turnover of employees was the highest Ive ever seen in any company Ive worked for, and I believe that is attributed to the 1st shift workers (sometimes they had up to 6 people per shift! But generally they 3-4 people helping them in the mornings) were usually people who had been there the longest and had "earned it". Its a great place to work, IF you don't mind working harder, earning less and not getting breaks and lunches (I started taking my 15 minute break because we were getting in trouble for not taking one, however, it usually only lasted 7-10 mins as I had to get back so we could prep for the dinner meal/cleanup) 
You can earn your way to the morning shift, however I didn't have the patience to 'wait and see' how long that would take.

I get bored easily. I only worked there for about a month. They were severely understaffed and I wasn't properly trained. The first week was exciting cause it was a new position and I was learning my role. I learned quickly that I wasn't very good so the next couple of weeks I worked hard to be great, with a lot of success. Then the boredom set it. Every day was exactly the same, I did the same tasks multiple times a shift. So once I got good at the role, I just thought to myself "well now I just keep doing this? Over and over again? Nothing else?". I quickly realized I couldn't handle a position like that without a piece of me dying inside. It would be different if we had a good manager and a good team. None of them were mean or bad or anything. My coworkers and I hardly spoke or got to know each other, they would answer my questions as I tried to get to know them but then would quickly delve back into silence. It's the type of environment where everyone just puts their heads down and does their work. The manager is the same way, he would never greet us, he would just get straight to work. Maybe that's not an issue for some people, it was an issue for me. If my work is boring, I need a good work culture to compensate for the boredom. One day I was trying to psyche myself up to go to work, and I just sat down and decided I couldn't do it, no matter how badly I wanted to make it work and what the experience on my resume would do for my future chosen career. I texted my manager and that was it.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Best part was the patients I took care of

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I don't think working for the company was stressful ( they had doable expectations ) 
I think what was stressful to me was others not understanding my role as a health professional & accepting my leadership & supporting me when I couldn't be two places at one 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environment /culture - high standards over all which was inline with the patient care 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
05:45 arrive 
06:00 - receive report from nite nurse  / prioritize tasks 
06:20 - print docs needed for the day 
06:30 prepare med cart 
06:45 - do blood sugar checks  & provide insulin if needed 
O7:00 - start morning med pass to be complete within specific time frame/ checking I have the right medication / patient / dosage  x 3 as well as connecting with the residents .
0:900 - 9:30 
See which patients are needing treatments & prepare supplies  & notify patients of when I would be in do said tx 
10:00 do computer tasks
1045 11:15 - blood sugars checks / insulin as needed 
11:30 -1200 Noon med pass
13:00 - start treatments
14: 30 15:30 -computer work
16:00 - 16:30 blood sugar checks / insulin as needed 
16:45 - begin dinner med pass
17:00 -update computer task / nurses notes 
17:30 prepare notes /etc for nurse reporting

This is the worst company I have ever worked for (at southern utah veterans home)I enjoyed the job itself and spending time with the residents but co-workers were awful.   They were rude, very offish and always acted like you had done something wrong...Management was the worst I have ever seen in the work place in over 30 years.   Coworkers set you up to fail by not doing their jobs and then when there are complaints they always blame the new person at the front desk.  The training is horrible and not consistant -they gossip about the new employees and everything that goes wrong when you are learning the job and the whole place knows your mistake---how unprofessional!!!! The front office staff are all a bunch of back stabbing jerks and when you ask for help to do things correctly you get in trouble for not knowing what you are doing and told you are unqualified to do the job.  Very demeaning and belittling!!!!!   I worked there a total of 9 days and was asked to resign because of the admission coordinator not doing her job/and the charge nurse not doing their job  and blaming me for it.  Because of their mistakes on not scheduling a transport for a resident I was blamed and it wasn't my job to do that. Terrible place to work!!!!

The company is driven by outcomes, which produces revenue. This demand can create high levels of stress on everyone, especially if not given in depth understanding. Day to day interruptions happen often, with a high demand to also complete assigned tasks as well. Supervisors appear to have your back and want you to succeed; however, they quibble or criticize no matter how hard you work to meet their goals. New employees are expected to learn at the speed of the trainer and/or other seasoned employees. The company lacks the ability to see the quality in a person and quickly induces judgements about an employee's ability to perform or learn a new process--it's easy for them, it should be easy for you. They appear kind, but don't be fooled by this kindness. If you don't meet their standard, no matter how you think you are doing, your out. Goals are set, but not allowed to be followed through or obtained if they're planning on terminating you. It is an "At Will" job. Job security is a thing of the past.

That’s what this company cares more about. Looking good. The management treat employees like trash and run people out. So many great people ran out by management. 
I made a decent wage, but I was so miserable. Never in my life have I worked in a place that made me wish it would be on fire every morning before I came in to work. 
The management is the type to find the strongest cna/nurse, the proceed to ask them to do there job and the person job besides them. I once asked my manager why he doesn’t ask the person to do it whos job it is (who was sitting there). He said ‘because you can get it all done, they don’t work as fast’ 
Pathetic. You want me to do two jobs, give me double the wage. They don’t care about the patients. They’d try to make us call and get there approval to send people to the hospital. Because they didn’t want a high ‘ER admission  rate’ which effects there stars. They are terrible. The only think I half enjoyed was my co-workers. However half of them lived to sabotage you and the other half just struggled to get through the day and give care. Would never recommend medford oregon hearthstone. Not unless they got rid of the DNS Colby. Good luck to chose who choose it there. 
They even give the gift of asbestos! But that’s no reason to close. Well just pretend we are ‘renovating’.

I Don't know who they care the least about, their veterans or their employees!  They treat their employees like dirt!!!! They do not respect you and the worst part about it is the way they treated their residents. They do not train their new employees properly and they treat you like if you have questions, you better go bug somebody else about it. I could honestly go on for days about how much of a hell hole that was!!!! Everyone thinks they're better than everyone and a huge power trip going on! 
Here's a big red flag, I hope corporate reads this! One man would get so upset he would hold his call light button down and refused to let it go. And instead of trying to talk to him about it, they unplugged his call light system from the wall!!!!! That is abuse!!!!!! 
Sorry I will stop rambling! Oh my the way I got in trouble for "being too independent"they're exact words. I would always do my own thing and make sure my stuff was done before dinner, clean up my veterans, and I was the only one who left on time because my stuff was done! Then yes I'm "I'm too independent".
Nuff said.  G.E.W.V.H. = HELL HOLE 
But I loved those veterans!  They will always be in my heart!  I love you my sweet guys!!!!!!

As with any position this job comes with pros and cons. If your lucky these two things balance. This is not the case with this position. Management is an absolute joke. The DON is rarely available and when they are you wish they were not. I've never been a facility that was so toxic. Typically the floor staff will not like management and that's fairly normal. This particular building, no one likes anyone.  Management doesn't even behave professionally.  Staff will get in trouble for not getting their work completed on time but 9 times out of ten it's because they were pulled away by management. The expectations are ridiculous.  There is absolutely no work life balance. They expect you to change your schedule at the drop of a hat and have no respect for your time off. The patients deserve better. All skilled nursing notes and wounds were moved to the AM shift because the PM shift wouldn't complete them. Instead of addressing that with the PM shift it was moved. Nurses will have 27 plus patients with little to no help as COCs and orders come in cause unnecessary stress to bother nurses and CNAs. Avalon is a good company to work for but this facility is not. 

I liked this job at first.  It was a great way to serve our vets.  As a culinary school grad the kitchen manager gave me some freedom to make the food taste better while working within the dietary restrictions and the recipes.  I did.  The residents were happy and started giving me and the kitchen kudos on putting out good, tasty food.  That was OK for a few months, then something, I don't know what, happened.  All of a sudden I had to follow the recipes to the letter.  There was no more simple things like searing the meat or even simply seasoning it before roasting.  Things got worse; I complained, the kitchen manager retaliated then was fired.  However administration basically treated me like a pariah after that, so I found something better.  

In the 7 months I worked there there was 75% turnover in just cooks in the kitchen.  God knows what it was for Diet Aides.  Seemed like we would lose one and get a new one every week.  That should tell you something.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Screener 88 salaries reported	$22.72 per hour
Nursing assistant 7 salaries reported	$23.24 per hour
Registered nurse 8 salaries reported	$41.03 per hour
Health screener 10 salaries reported	$42.92 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 10 salaries reported	$33.41 per hour

Working at Avalon Health Care Group: Company Overview and Reviews

Avalon Health Care Group

Avalon Health Care Group Ratings

Popular jobs at Avalon Health Care Group

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected