registered nurse

social worker

admissions coordinator

cook

dietary assistant

Erlanger-Behavioral-Health-Hospital

I worked here because I genuinely wanted to help people in crisis, but I quickly learned that the reality behind the doors looks nothing like the calm, cheerful image shown in marketing materials. From what I experienced, the environment felt overwhelmed and unsupported. Staff were stretched far too thin to provide the kind of attention and compassion patients desperately needed.

The constant pressure and chaos made it incredibly difficult to maintain any sense of safety or therapeutic purpose. I often left shifts feeling heartsick, knowing patients weren’t getting meaningful engagement or a healing environment. Many spent most of their days stuck in one room with little structure, which didn’t feel like mental health care—more like containment.

Communication between departments was poor, and the stress level among staff was a clear sign that the system itself wasn’t functioning well. Instead of investing in resources that would improve treatment and safety, leadership seemed more focused on appearances and avoiding problems rather than actually fixing them.

I left because I couldn’t reconcile my professional values with what I saw happening on a daily basis. Mental health care should be about dignity, compassion, and actual progress—not just getting through the day. I sincerely hope changes are made, because the patients deserve far better than what I witnessed.

I have worked at both entry level and higher up positions. In all areas (direct care, nursing, therapists, and managers) employees are continually asked to take on more responsibilities, with increasingly acute patients, for no raises, and with less help. Clients are just $ to the higher ups, and all employees are expendable regardless of their input, experience, or seniority. Management is reactionary, and their is a constant culture of fear. People are laid off with no plan for how to meet the needs they were addressing. Units are opened and closed without preparation or forethought. Everything is a constant race to make more money. The individual staff members are great, and try very hard to make a difference, but ultimately get burnt out by management indifference and mistreatment. Lots of drama and fear based management from HIGH level positions. Employees working for benefits they cant get due to company's fault. No consideration for employees, EVERYTHING is about money. Patients and employees come LAST.

The hospital does not support the behavioral side of a Behavioral Health hospital, however the staff is doing what they can with heart to combat the systemic areas affecting the patients and healing of the patients.  There is a disconnent between the medical and behavioral staff as far as expectations that need to be re-considered.  On paper Arcadia appears to be collaborating alright with Erlanger, but does not seem to understand Chattanooga's barriers and there is tension due to the nature of it being a private coorporation who pays close attention to the bottom line.  Patients are brought in from all over the middle and eastern TN so there is not always availability for local residents to recieve services.  Most of the staff I encountered was either, frustrated with the barriers inherent in Chattanooga's second private involuntary Behavioral Health inpatient center or oblivious, but majority had the heart and desire for Erlanger Behavioral health to continue to be successful.

Nurses have 12-15 patients EACH.
secretly understaffed (even when management tells you you're fully staffed.)
90% of coworkers are wonderful.
Upper management does not care about NURSES and have impossible expectations. They refuse to employ security guards there. Upper management will tell you YOU ARE SECURITY. WHAT??!! The patients can hurt you buy if you defend yourself against a psychotic or a criminal patient, you will lose your job if they get hurt.
I had never been scared for my safety at a job site until I worked there.
The turnover is a revolving door. Even new managers have left within a couple months. 
Not only is FEMALE clinical staff safety a concern, staff's mental health (and patients mental health) is not a priority! 
This is THE MOST untherapuetic mental health place I have ever seen! Don't send your family there! Don't work there!
The pay SUCKS for the amount of work and stress you endure.

This company does not care about the "lower end" employees such as the techs that work directly with the patients. The bottom line is strictly about money. The units are filthy and the carpets....probably growing mold and unimaginable things underneath. I would not put a half dead rodent in this "hospital". The patient accountability is zero and there is NOTHING therapeutic about the patients' stay there. SAD working conditions, units are short staffed all the time, staff is late reporting to work all the time. During my time that I was employed there, I witnessed staff sleeping on the job at times and constantly disappearing off the units leaving the unit short staffed. Serious safety concerns were taken lightly and staff operated haphazardly. There were a few good techs and nurses working there but I doubt if they are still there due to the way that this organization "operates"....at least if they had sense, they would get out of there with the quickness!!! 

This job allowed me to grow so much! I started out as a Mental Health Technician. Which was very rewarding. I met a lot of interesting people and made great friendships. (Although, the nursing department doesn’t respect their Techs as they should. Which is frustrating cause there are some great techs that will get burnt out quick. Definitely need more pay !) Then, as a Unit Clerk I was able to really learn the day to day processes of the entire hospital. Shortly after I was prompted again to Discharge Planner/ Legal Liaison which built on the skills I learned as Unit Clerk. I would still be working if I had not been presented with more pay at another facility. I loved most of the staff and have grown so much in my 3 years there. I had some great supervisors! I recommend this job to someone who wants to learn and grow. You have to really apply yourself and make connections. 

You will be expected to manage up to 24 patients on your own. Staffing is ALWAYS short. Patients are increasingly violent.

Pay is not consistent with the area, work load, or risk to personal safety.

Occasionally they will "forget" to pay you.

Culture is toxic- favoritism is displayed ( to be a favorite you need to "go with the flow"  don't verbalize concerns, and work as many days as possible to keep the hospital running.

The most enjoyable part of the job? Some good coworkers

Lesson learned?: Healthcare is about making money and not helping others. although, the organization will like you more if you believe you are "the one" trying to make the difference as cheaply as possible. 

Everything is extremely disorganized and lacks structure. The training new hires get across the board is insufficient. Essentially people who lack training are training others. Leading to frustration, tension, and conflict. Also, I would never send anyone here. The company lacks true teamwork to truly care for patients the way they deserve. The work culture is very hostile and leaders contribute to it. There’s no resolution to major problems. I was excited to start and I’m excited to leave. I lacked support from the beginning and feels like I was set up to fail. I find some things to be unethical and just concerning. They truly need to listen to feedback to improve the experience for their staff, so they can improve employee retention. 

The work culture here is very toxic. It caused me to be anxious about every shift. The turnover across departments is very high. People are so overwhelmed here, you can see it in the way patients are treated. Also, the workplace isn’t safe for staff. The leadership is very unsupportive and hardly spend time on the units to truly grasp what’s happening. I felt unheard when I was advocating for others. In fact, I got pushback because the priority is profit. I truly wanted to help patients but see that this facility doesn’t prioritize patients like they should. We have had so many changes in upper leadership and things still remain the same. I think the job is okay if you really need employment. If you have a choice, choose better.

Was promised that I wouldn’t be alone with patients in the intake department for safety issues. Was only scheduled alone. Management did not come in to accommodate staffing. There are no staffing ratios for intake. Unable to take 30 minute breaks due to lack of staff. Management pushes providers to take patients they feel will not benefit from the facility. Management is more concerned with getting patients admitted before midnight to charge insurance an extra billing day. Poor training. 
Coworkers are nice though. Everyone just does the best they can while being wholly unsupported by management.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 7 salaries reported	$34.86 per hour
Social worker 4 salaries reported	$54,500 per year
Admissions coordinator 8 salaries reported	$24.00 per hour
Cook 1 salary reported	$17.25 per hour
Dietary assistant 1 salary reported	$12.00 per hour

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