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clinical supervisor

social worker

performance improvement specialist

Del-Amo-Behavioral-Health-System

TL;DR:
The work is easy. The environment will make you feel like you’re not enough.

Review:
I’m writing this so others don’t go through what I did. The job itself is manageable, but the environment is extremely discouraging.

There is little role clarity — I was pulled between HR, business office, and reception without clear priorities. Communication is inconsistent, and you may be told one thing and later corrected for it.

You’re encouraged to “speak up,” but when you do, concerns are dismissed or minimized. Over time, this makes you question yourself instead of helping you grow. It does not feel like support — it feels like you’re expected to just figure everything out on your own.

Training and safety were also concerns. As a receptionist, I was expected to interact with psychiatric patients and even enter units without proper guidance. When I expressed discomfort, I was told to “handle it,” which felt unrealistic and unsafe without the right training.

I left not because the work was hard, but because I felt unsupported, unheard, and like I was never enough — and no one should feel that way at work.

Advice to Management:
Support your employees. Clear expectations, proper training, and actually listening when people speak up would make a big difference

First of all, the pay is low for a psych hospital. Veteran nurses make less than new incoming nurses. The staffing is unsafe and management expects nursing staff to just deal with it. The food is bad and they serve the same menu all the time. When you apply here, make sure that you ask what a typical night looks like as a nurse on the unit. Quite honestly, you will be overworked, very likely overwhelmed, and understaffed due to the fact that you can recieve 5 admissions or more on your shift, you're the only RN on that unit and are responsible for all admissions. Del Amo has 8hr shifts and ALL PAPER CHARTING, so if you get slammed with admissions, discharges, and possible codes expect to stay over frequently. The best part about this place is my immediate coworkers, not management. They are all supportive and when you work with them, you all become close. Evening house supervisors are the worst. I've been around two of them and one was extremely micro managing (now a unit manager) and the other one is too high strung, can be rude, and not helpful in emergent situations. Also, too many good employees have been terminated due to time clock issues. 

I worked at Del Amo Hospital as a Per Diem Social Worker, but I was scheduled a lot since they are desperate for staff. The pay wasn’t great. It is an intense place to work and you can learn a lot from working with different demographics of patients. The social work training was an absolute joke. Management does not care about the staff and just wants to get the work done... the more you do the more they give you. There is no mental health support for the social workers or rest of the staff, which is highly necessary at this place. There is no support from management. There is no transparency from management. In fact, the opposite. Apparently the staff social workers gossip consistently about the per diems and interns, which is not surprising at all if you meet them. Everyone is your boss yet your actual boss is absolutely useless. With all that said, I would not recommend working here unless you are desperate or really enjoy working with individuals who have acute mental illness at a highly unorganized psychiatric hospital where everyone bosses you around and doesn’t care about you. Unethical, unorganized, unpleasant, extremely high turn-over.

DAH hires many new nurses and it offers new grads a way into nursing. It also offers good benefits and flexibility. It is far from the freeway so if you do not live within 10-20 minutes via streets prepare an extra 25 minute commute just to get to the site from the 405 freeway. This is also a great place if you plan on pursing your PMHNP as it will give you a big cross section of populations and mental health issues to understand. You will be working alongside therapists (mostly social workers), as well as psychiatrists and medical doctors. You will not get to start IVs (as it is a locked facility). You will work with patients on 5150 holds from all ages (6-seniors). You will perform assessments on patients that have been cleared medically at the ER. You must use your critical thinking as even "cleared" patients may present with illness. You will get trained in Handle with Care (DAH own verison of CPI). There are medical codes from time to time, but most codes are for patients that are either trying to leave before their hold is up. Overall it is a great place to start with room for advancement. 

This is one of the worse nursing jobs (on any level) that you could possibly apply for in Los Angeles County. First of all, RN's - you are going to be paid $10 or more dollars less per hour for similar positions elsewhere. Non licensed staff - There is nothing but disrespect and lack of appreciation for your work or as a member of the team. There is also a culture of workplace bullying condoned and supported by management on all levels. Micromanagement is the term of the day, and save money at the expense of staff safety and poor patient care is the flavour of the month. The most enjoyable part of this job is clocking out and going home.

If you are unfortunate enough to have set up an interview for this job, once you hear what they want to pay you, know then, you've already been disrespected as a professional.

Do yourself a favor the new year. Earn what your worth and only work for companies that care about you.

I could never replace or compliment enough the hard-working staff that work in an unbelievably daily stressful environment while simultaneously exhibiting compassion & empathy towards mental health patients, which often were aggressive & extremely difficult. I learned through observing & participating with trained staff how to use calming, positive interventions, while also using direct communication & making boundaries when necessary. it was always a delicate balance between empathy & creating consequences to the patients, and are own as staff members to our actions. I learned you must model the behavior you desire from the patient no matter the scenario. These lessons from working at del amo were invaluable.

Conduct 2-4 group therapies per day 50 min. each.  Complete Group Notes; meet with individual outpatient client's as needed everyday; assist with crisis management; conduct phone or on-site family sessions as needed;  call patients when they are absent and encourage return to program; assign social workers new patients, as well as update the social worker log with new admits;  document patient notes in their  chart daily or monthly; conduct family sessions once per month or as needed.  Assist team with other activities for social events.  Complete monthly social work hours flyer and post on community board.   Complete rounds once per week.  Attend treat team planning and review of patient treatment  plans as needed;  attend scheduled Unit meetings with Director.

I love working on the floor, with most staff, and most nurses. I enjoy the job itself. But DAH is just another corporation that doesn’t really care about its staff. Pay is not at all competitive. Several staff members have tested positive for COVID and while we do get emails saying as such, the other staff in direct contact have not been notified. We all understand that they can’t disclose who, but they aren’t even disclosing what department or shift. Meanwhile, management gets to sit in their offices and not expose themselves. The CEO used to walk through the units and pretend to care about the staff and he doesn’t even do that anymore. Honestly, I wish I could afford to quit. DAH has no loyalty to its staff.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Mostly coworkers are really nice and helpful.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Low pay. Looks like the company do not appreciate a hard working employee. I still working and this company, after 8 months I asked for a raise and the answer was “it will take more than than a month to get the feed back”

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Multicultural really fair. It’s nice to work with different cultures employees. Big port unity to learn and appreciate others.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Busy, intense, demanding, stressful and high risk events.

Great people work at Del Amo Hospital who are dedicated to the patients safety, wellbeing, and recovery. I have never worked at place that emphasize HOW to work with patients in this kind of setting. At Del Amo Hospital, they teach you the tools one needs to work in this population and how to deal with patients who are in crisis. My former positions in mental health settings often employed authoritarian, strong-armed type people but at Del Amo Hospital, a lot of the staff ensure that the patients are treated with respect and dignity.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Screener 9 salaries reported	$30.00 per hour
Clinical supervisor 1 salary reported	$92,500 per year
Social worker 1 salary reported	$79,500 per year
Performance improvement specialist 1 salary reported	$107,500 per year

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