therapist

mental health technician

clinician

registered nurse

psychiatric nurse

Cedar Springs Hospital

I will say this, the job itself is rewarding...tough but rewarding and if you are a psych major you will want the 1:1 patient care experience. Fellow techs will be your lifeline and your battle buddy during dangerous situations. However, the politics of the place will drain you dry, they are constantly understaffed to the point that it can be dangerous. You will get punched, kicked, spit on and assaulted in a million ways and be paid very low hourly wages, they will try to get you to work extra for bonuses when a good portion of it is taken out in taxes anyways. The benefits are good but I can’t say if it’s worth what you deal with on the job. As stated above the job can be dangerous due to low staffing; the turnover rate for employees is high due to the low wages and dangerous atmosphere. There are staff members who have had to go to the hospital many times from being assaulted, you don’t get anything extra for injuries and they will expect you back the next day if physically possible. Expect to develop some form of PTSD from working in this place as it’s not uncommon to be attacked by other patients during managements or have your life in danger. Trust me when I say this place will suck you dry mentally and physically and if you aren’t resilient maybe worse. You will make suggestions on making the environment safer for employees and management may not listen until someone gets seriously hurt. The residential program is ran by the therapists who seem oblivious to what the patients are really doing. My advice is too look at other hospitals before you settle with this one. 

My typical day on the women's trauma unit at Cedar Springs Behavioral Hospital can be quite a wild ride from day to day.  The average stay per patient is 5 days so by the end of those 5 days I have had great opportunities to touch their lives in so many ways.  Some ladies come in after attempting suicide, or are about to start detoxing from various drugs or alcohol, or are experiencing some sort of deep trauma in their lives.  I start my day with them as they begin to emerge from their rooms, getting them their breakfast and then doing check-in and leading a psych-ed  group of some sort, which is my favorite part of the day, where you can really touch their lives.
The unit staff consists of an RN, a med nurse, two therapists, and a psychiatrist.  Working closely together with the nurses and maintaining a relaxed atmosphere on the unit really makes for an enjoyable day. The most difficult part of my day is dealing with the many, many, many needs of 12 troubled ladies.  Issues from when is smoke break to, could you get me this or that.  I've been blessed with a pretty easy disposition and after 30 years in industrial sales this job has opened up a part of me I didn't know existed.  It has really helped me grow as a person both professionally and personally.

Worked at CS, they have a unit full of teenagers who are allowed to do anything they want with what and who/ever they want to. This unit is co-ed. The children punch holes in the was revealing sharp screws, they cut themselves, and they can run out the doors 24 hours away to make staff chase them while the other patients are unsupervised. Not safe for you, me, or any employee. Working here caused me to have a mental break down and have to check into another facility for a few days to process what I had witnessed at Cedar Springs. This was not my first job like that so it wasn't the fact that it was a new environment. 
Cedar Springs is an extremely corrupt (they don't call 911, they handle "things" in-house and dangerous (the patients know when to run out the gate onto the busy street outside. The teenage patients are given opportunity to do this 3 times a day as they walk outside to meals(they aren't locked down but they do love to run toward the gate, literally every single day). Who has ever heard of a lockdown behavioral health facility where  patients are allowed to even walk halfway to the front gate outside!?
One more thing, the facility is covered with cameras and they are not for the safety of the patients. They are there to make sure you are always busy and trust me, you always are. 

Somebody needs to contatct the news about this facility but because of HIPAA that will never be done. 
Somebody needs to do something.

Ive worked here for awhile and at first the job was very rewarding and amazing. Then, after a couple months, the rose colored glasses came off and this place was seen as it truly is. This place is already dangerous due to a possibility of being assaulted by angry patients occasionally but if you do get injured and want to press charges, this place will guilt you into dropping the charges or use it against you when you try to advance in the company. Then, even with how dangerous it is, the CEO will do anything to cut corners when it comes to spending on staff wages. You not only will have to work 50+ hours a week to make anything worth being able to pay your bills, but then you will come to work and be on a severely acute unit with 12 patients by yourself due to how short-staffed they are. Then, you are constantly stressed and burnt out and look weak if you need to take a break to smoke because you are screamed at for hours a day by patients. God forbid youre a human being who occasionally gets overwhelmed. Employees are constantly taken for granted and are encouraged to never speak up or have an opinion otherwise, after being at the company for years, they will find the smallest thing to fire you over. 

If you are considering working here, DONT! No one deserves to be treated like this at work.

As an RN, it is extremely gratifying to witness the benefits of medical treatment and this hospital enables that. Almost every day I leave feeling happy I have been able to help and support someone at a low point in their life and I am glad to return to work and often see a positive difference that other areas of nursing don't always get to see. The psychiatric team is amazing, always willing to share information and further our knowledge and expertise as nurses. It would be hard to imagine better doctors. The medical team is also outstanding. Co-workers at every level are a diverse, interesting, talented group who all share the quality of helping the patients and each other. Yes, the hospital occasionally has periods of low staffing, but so do all hospitals. The facility itself has a storied history and as such, older and very old buildings with all the quirks and historic charm.  I feel privileged to work at Cedar Springs and look forward to continued growth in my psych mental health career at this hospital. I encourage others who want to experience the gratification of treating the whole patient in a dignified, patient-centered manner to consider joining the outstanding team at Cedar Springs.

This facility is a lawsuit waiting to happen. It is a mental health facility, yet nearly 95% of the staff is untrained in the manner of mental health. They recieve a crash course on trauma, then let loose on the floor with deeply ill patients that need (and deserve) more competency. Most of the nurses are lazy and stay within the nursing station on their phones, while the techs basically pick fights with the patients when they're bored. Because the facility is always understaffed, they hire literally the bottom of the barrel employees, and it shows. Supervisors play favorites and there is constant gossip throughout all the units, which give the patients rampant time to find ways to hurt themselves or others. The residential units are a joke and are basically summer camp for attention starved teenagers, and the staff gets inappropriately emotionally involved with those patients. This place is a dump and needs new management and standards put in place to protect the patients better.

What is the best part of working at the company?
At first it was great, staff seemed friendly but I had heard things. Wish I had listened.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The management doesn’t care about their employees, they lack loyalty to keep those who work hard, reward laziness and then wonder why the high turnover.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
TOXIC and extremely unorganized! People surpassed for job advancement only to be given to people who need to be trained by the inferiors and still can’t do the job the “inferiors” already know and mastered. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Stressful, because I would be doing the job of 2-3, while others would be allowed to nap, spend too much time on their phones, or slack off talking to the manager (he loved to talk, and often I was too busy to take part in an unrelated work conversation).

Depending on job title a typical day of work would include; arriving on time, clock in and report to unit. There are usually two Technicians, one charge nurse, an LPN and various therapist and medical on call doctors and psychologist. After clock in, the mental health specialist meets with out-going staff to review patients report. 10 to 15 minute checks on patients are recorded on locator sheets to determine patients behavior and location.Techs are responsible for patients records of belongings while they are there and an account when they are discharged. Vital signs are taken in the morning and/or any time that a nurse request. There is a constant monitoring of patients which would include their safety and whereabouts. A psychiatric therapeutic class is facilitated by the Tech once a day. Outside breaks are monitored twice a day . At the close of shift, all paperwork should be completed.

As another person wrote, you are told in orientation that the bad reviews are from disgruntled ex-employees. Maybe they wouldn’t have “disgruntled ex-employees” if they did a better job with the training and supporting of their staff! They have THE WORST administration and leadership and will take patients even when they are understaffed and cannot SAFELY care for the patients. This puts the staff and their personal professional license at risk. If you bring any concerns to the leadership, they do a lot of writing down but NOTHING CHANGES!!! Working here was mentally draining and, as a mental hospital, they do not care about the mental wellbeing of the patients OR STAFF…only keeping the hospital full and the money coming in, disregarding the patient care and understaffing. If you value your license or your sanity, do not work here

Initially I enjoyed working here.  However, after a few weeks you will realize that it is a toxic work environment and the people they have appointed to be "leadership" are dishonest and enjoy gaslighting their staff with lies about their character and their work. I have personally seen 6 people be fired, resign or simply walk out of the job due to the harrassment and unprofessional handling of the department.  They are losing a lot of good skilled and educated employees because the leadership  has an agenda to write people up for no reason at all.  If you don't agree to be available for work at any time they want to change your schedule to, they will find ways to gaslight you or characterize you as a bad employee.   I don't recommend working here.  The bad reviews are true!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Therapist 3 salaries reported	$72,333 per year
Mental health technician 3 salaries reported	$19.08 per hour
Clinician 1 salary reported	$33.50 per hour
Registered nurse 1 salary reported	$43.50 per hour
Psychiatric nurse 1 salary reported	$57.00 per hour

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