mental health technician

clinical therapist

registered nurse

licensed practical nurse

intake coordinator

North Star Behavioral Health System

My experience at North Star was, regrettably, defined by a toxic work environment that permeated every aspect of my day-to-day responsibilities. A typical day was fraught with navigating through a culture of punitive management and unclear expectations. Tasks were often assigned in a haphazard manner, with little consideration for the impact on staff workload or well-being.

The management style at North Star  was particularly challenging, characterized by a punitive approach that seemed to prioritize blame over constructive feedback or support. This approach fostered an atmosphere of fear and anxiety, rather than one of learning and growth. Additionally, nepotism and favoritism were rampant, creating significant disparities in how employees were treated and opportunities were distributed. It was disheartening to witness how often connections outweighed competence in decisions related to promotions, project assignments, and recognition.

The workplace culture was starkly divided, with a clear in-group and out-group, which was exacerbated by the management's tendencies towards favoritism. This divisiveness stifled collaboration and innovation, as employees were more focused on navigating the internal politics than on contributing positively to the company's objectives. The emphasis on maintaining the status quo and appeasing favored individuals led to a stagnation of ideas and a lack of diversity in thought and approach.

One of the most distressing aspects of working at North Star  was the blatant disregard for both staff and patient care. The toxic environment extended beyond the employees to affect patient interactions and care outcomes. The lack of empathy and respect for patients mirrored the treatment of the staff, revealing a deep-rooted issue within the company's culture that went beyond workplace dynamics.

In conclusion, while every workplace has its challenges, the environment at North Star  was particularly detrimental due to a combination of punitive management, nepotism, favoritism, and a fundamental lack of care for both staff and patients. For  North Star to transform into a healthier and more productive workplace, significant changes are needed in leadership style, cultural values, and the overall approach to both employee and patient care. It's imperative for organizations to understand that the success and well-being of their employees directly impact their ability to provide quality service and care.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The patients and free Lunch. They offer good pay.  The other nurses were good to work with, and the MHS staff were very helpful

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The lack of management. The lack of knowledge about the younger patients. The units are extremely unorganized.  No nurse manager for the most part.  Understaffed. 
Problems with the kids units. Very dirty and kids being locked down.  No proper training other than how to restrain young kids.  The kids units are not safe. Numerous suicidal attempts and numerous outbursts that required injectable medications on kids. No proper management in the kids units, the adult units are run better, but the kids units are like prison. Some kiddies in the unit for days without going down to lunch or the gym or outside with their peers, for punishment. 
Giving kids very high risk medications without time to know their backgrounds and their medical psychological history. 
Feeling extremely rushed and extreme amount of distress on the shift. Immediately my first day on shift I could feel the tension from other staff. 
The orientation was unprofessional and did not at all prepare you for the job. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environment is stress. Staff always negative. Complaining. Hearing threats of staff wanting to quit.  Staff has no support of each other or makes a team effort. Because there is no one running the team. The job is unsafe. Causing distress on staff and patients. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Medication pass.  Feeling pressured in getting the meds out.  Not having time to  care for the priority patients. Being transferred to other units with no notice. 
Unorganized supplies, impossible to get needed supplies. Problems with their equipment.  Pharmacy is not supportive

My perspective is from being direct care staff at the girls facility. Caring for mental health patients is challenging enough on its own, but the administration I worked with did not make things any easier. We were consistently and dreadfully short-staffed in reality, even if the schedule had names filled in for people. High ratios (more patients per staff) meant that it was so difficult to keep patients positively engaged, they often became violent, disobedient, and destructive. Staff were expected to run structured, enriching psychosocial group activities, which is great in theory, but absolutely unable to be executed in reality due to how acute many of the patients are. There was unrealistic expectation for what could be achieved and staff needs were neglected. A lot of time was spent just putting out fires and trying to keep kids from blowing out. Also, even though the patients there were not perfect angels, they still did not deserve being misunderstood or talked down about in the way that they were by some employees. Toxic work culture and toxic attitudes towards patients were rampant. As an employee, there was also a huge amount of tension between certain departments (disagreements, lack of appreciation, lack of communication) and all around most people didn't communicate. Administrators' idea of boosting morale and supporting workers was putting seasonal arts and crafts in the break room or handing out $5 Starbucks giftcards once a year. If working here doesn't break your spirit entirely, it's a good stepping stone to realizing how much you shouldn't work at North Star.

This was the most satisfying and rewarding job in mental health I have had. Each and every day was different, much like Centennial Peaks. I never knew what I was going into in regards to the patients, however when speaking on behalf of my co-workers I knew what to expect. That was support, positive attitudes, teamwork, understanding and creativity. This included the management team. I felt that I was able to go do management with any issues and they would be resolved in a way that would consider all those involved and to make everyone happy or satisfied with the decision. The safety of the patients was the priority as well as maintaining a therapeutic environment. Working with challenging and difficult youth was the hardest part of the job. Some of the rewards were hearing the youth tell me thank you for helping them or when they would write me thank you notes or the younger children drawing me pictures and getting excited to see me walk onto the unit. Working at North Star was a great experience and I would recommend anyone to work there or if they needed treatment for their children.

I have heard a great many things about working in this place, mostly negative, which made me incredibly nervous to apply here in the first place. While the interview process was easy, getting trained and placed into a unit was initially challenging. I started pool, and since then have gone full time. It took time for me to really find my footing there, but my overall experience working here has been absolutely wonderful. The staff I work with are supportive, have positive attitudes, are always willing to train you further and answer questions, they genuinely want to see you successful, and they care about their work, the boys, and their co-workers. The most challenging parts at the moment, is we are short staffed and administration can be difficult to work with at times. Sometimes we work extra and concerns can’t be addressed as quickly as needed. But the staff make you feel like your family, and we get through everything as a team. The pay and benefits are better than I expected they would be. I genuinely would recommend this as a place to work, we may not be perfect, but there will always be room for improvement, and I’m sure once COVID allows us to make different decisions about things, things will get better. 

Group, individual and family counseling with consumers in a behavioral health hospital suffering from substance abuse, mental and behavioral health issues.
Intakes and discharge planning was a majority of assessments conducted. I met 3x weekly with doctors and nurses for the purpose of ongoing treatment planning. I was supervisor to 3 Masters level clinician who were also my co-workers.
The most difficult part of the job was having the parents remove patients to return home to return to the same living conditions, before treatment was complete.
The most enjoyable part of the job was to see patients and their family's develop an understanding of the dynamics of their issues and begin to address them in the ounseling sessions.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working with the patients.. but so much goes on… CMS and Joint Commission seem to always be in the building… staffing is always short, nursing has minimal to no support.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
It’s such a small organization. The admin team all know one another personally and feed negatively off each other… making staff vulnerable and jobs insecure…

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Stressful and unappreciated. With constant complaints requiring CMS or their own corporate people to be present and unbelievable staffing shortages along with constant employee rollover.. they are always trying to put bandaids on processes, never moving forward, never making positive changes.

The salary was great. Most benefits were excellent. I enjoyed working with the unit staff, patients and their families. It was difficult work. I didn’t have enough hours in the day to complete all the clinical notes without working a larger amount of overtime without pay. 

Administration were largely uninvolved, and were extremely interested in doing whatever it took to make paperwork look perfect for audits. That didn’t set well with me. Programming for patients was not as the program advertised. Unstructured time with minimal supervision led to safety issues with the patients. Speaking up did not help and actually worked against me. 

I knew the history of this company before interviewing, but had high hopes due to the company cleaning up and the successful referrals I sent to their detox program at previous jobs. 
Unfortunately, the culture is chaotic and they follow a social hierarchy. Those at the top tend to be entitled and seem to be outdated in some of their practices. Bachelors level and below are all basically administrative due to lack of actual administrative staff. It was also kind of weird that they don’t have security or a safety team. Rather, they train all employees to handle behavioral emergencies. Sounds Iike a good idea in theory, but in practice just adds to the chaos. 
The pay is very attractive, but the paper charts and lack of structure was not worth it for me.
Onboarding was super chaotic as well. 

I would not recommend this inpatient Pediatric BH facility for patients or potential job seekers. The HR department staff needs an overhaul and the management/leadership team has a very high turnover rate because they burn their staff up faster than they can recruit. This lack of continuity is a disservice to a very high-needs community full of Psych/BH problems. Just like the state ran psychiatric facility, NS needs serious help from experienced professionals who understands this organizational culture and can assist to transform the current environment to improve outcomes and ameliorate further internal/external damages.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Mental health technician 1 salary reported	$23.06 per hour
Clinical therapist 2 salaries reported	$100,000 per year
Registered nurse 11 salaries reported	$44.68 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 1 salary reported	$37.50 per hour
Intake coordinator 1 salary reported	$27.59 per hour

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