order picker

medical scribe

social worker

licensed practical nurse

clinician

Sonora Behavioral Health

Working in the business office at this organization was a nightmare to say the least. There is no support from upper management, and staff are regarded as the lowest of status. You are given work without the tools or support to properly do your job. When you identify issues with collecting payments from insurances and other entities, you report it constantly, show evidence of the issue and are met with a "we'll get to it whenever we feel like it". Management is complacent but holds staff responsible for their failures. Turnover is high in this area, morale is low, and you feel completely hopeless in your efforts. 

You can do an outstanding job and you never hear about it, until your ready to quit. Staff are subject to work in a tiny cramped office, where it is difficult to hear during phone calls. Management unfairly distributes work loads and leaves you completely under water. Management creates more problems than it solves. Suggestions or ideas are ignored and disregarded so you eventually stop trying to alert management to important issues affecting the business. You realize you are on your own without any support. 

Company changes policies and protocols constantly. You quickly see frustration when you come into work each day. Staff are stressed. Very little training. Staff try to work with each other knowing management is out of touch. 

I was leaving this company previously and talked into staying by telling me things will get better and that I did an outstanding job. They gave me a raise and made promises that things would improve. They told me they would produce positive results to make the place better if I stayed, so I did. After just 6 weeks of staying things got worse. They continued to dump more work loads and messed up processes even more with no resolution or ever a serious discussion. They just don't care about hard working staff. 

You have business office meetings that produce no results.

Benefits are expensive, PTO is barely adequate compared to other larger organizations.  Most of my co-workers were hard working and friendly. 

Other departments within Sonora Behavioral Health do not work with the Business Office. You have to email the supervisor in order to communicate with departments within. Then you can only hope you receive a response. Go direct to the department to ask someone for help related to their area, or about something and you'll hear about it. 

To get from point A to point B; you have to move through many processes. To do basic adjustments on accounts, you might as well be an accountant. The processes are so convoluted, it takes literally months to get the process down. You write off more than you can collect on accounts due to management's negligence to address issues that are needed at higher levels with payors. 

The work environment is very controlled. There is no autonomy and very little flexibility with anything. Hardly any sense of accomplishment.

Lastly, you find yourself coming to the conclusion this is a lost cause and throw up you hands. They won't allow you to make a difference for the better or appreciate staff that care about the job they were hired to do. In the end, they could care less.

During my employment there were 7 new ED's, 5 new DON's and several changes in nursing supervisors, multiple MD resignations and 2 medical directors in 2-1/2 years.  In my 38 years of nursing I've never seen that kind of turnover in management.  The corporation in TN is demanding and ruthless in finding fault, and just when there was some team buy-in and morale improvement another top leadership member would be walked out of the building on the spot.  Corporate never gives a new leader time to incorporate changes slowly so that staff can solidify and practice the new expectation.  There was constant change which drained the life-force of the  staff.   I am a rule follower and will do whatever I can for my company's success; dedicated to it, but at the end of my stint, I was called in the office for situations that occurred on my days off and for which I tried to resolve for the facility's' public relations and reputation, only to be the scapegoat.  There were also instances of questionable care that were reported in the media, some of which were true, but not on my time, thank goodness.  There was nursing bullying, and what I called "The Regime", a sort of gang mentality of staff who worked there for years and who stuck together against the majority, and who politically manipulated new leadership and staff.  They created opposition to any attempt to make Sonora great.  They wanted no change for the better only the same old slacker, easy street situation.  There ARE some excellent nurses and BHT's there, and they are the champions as they make up for all those who only want a job.  They are dedicated and demonstrate excellence in care and compassion for the severely mentally ill.  I loved the few times I could actually sit with a patient and offer some encouragement, suggestions and options for which was hopeful for them, and the letters of appreciation I would receive stating I made a difference in their lives. I couldn't stay and be associated professionally, when I did my best to provide support to patients, staff and company.  I did not feel supported by the corporation and there was no presence of a vetted local management team.  I am hopeful that this has changed for the  good staff that have remained.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The staff are overworked, the ratio sometimes can be at a dangerous level with one staff to 18 children and one nurse. As a BHT working with the kids hand on on the units they are not listening to by upper management but they have a lot of Intel as to what is going on with each patient. Sometimes it was just a dangerous environment to work in more times than none

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working on the unit where there is only 2bhds and one nurse with extremely high acuity

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The culture is if you keep to yourself and people really don't know you you are not treated very well as a staff. If you voice your concerns it could be very bad for you. They will put you on the worst unit and give you the worst hours

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You work for 14 hours on your feet straight. You may get a 20-minute break. When the Acuity is extremely high there is a lot of chaos going on and if you are working with someone who is not really familiar with the unit that they are working on or comfortable with the kids that they're working with a lot of the work can fall on one staff.

I honestly like working here. I enjoy doing therapy with the patients, rubbing shoulders with some great people, but I believe this job has taken over my life in less than a month.  Some dishonesty or inaccurate estimation of my job responsibilities from the interview process and after my first day with a new work load.  I really struggled adjusting here since my first day with a full work load.  I feel the problem is the business model.  Other people who can pull it off I commend them. If I was single maybe I could do it. However, I find most people are working extra hours per day.  I am disappointed in my work life balance here. My job here became my priority.  Some things would iron out over time. However, staying several hours late is likely to become the rule rather than the exception.  My decision to leave was about self-preservation. All disciplines appear to be spread thin across the board.  Highest staff to patient ratios in all disciplines I have seen other than nursing, but nursing is still high.  I have seen more codes here in a week (covering 4 units) than 6 months at other inpatient psych employers. The pay is awesome though and there are plentiful opportunities to be challenged and grow.

The front line staff and the patients are great human beings. The staff are there to do the right thing, most of the time. Management are there to focus on the almighty dollar. Of course any business would, but they sacrifice staff and patient safety to push the numbers up. The adolescent units are out of control. Staff cannot handle what is happening on the units. Administration just keeps bringing in patients no matter what is happening in the hospital. Nurses and techs are quitting faster than they can hire. Social workers are overwhelmed to the point that active programming is not happening. Documentation is not getting done. The required, regulatory minimums are not taking place in any department. They can't keep a DON to save their life. Very unsafe at the moment, since my review wont post with specifics. The bear minimum staff to patient ratio is being run, sometimes it is less than that. There are holes in the schedule all the time. Staff cant respond to codes on other units. Choose wisely before you apply.

Every bad thing you have heard is the result of the worst senior executive management possible. Start at the corporate level, down to the current CEO, COO. Four CEOs in the last 3 years. There is not a vision in place, except profit, hidden in false narratives. Employees work there because they care and do the best they can. Staff is cohesive amongst themselves, but total separation from management, because they cant be trusted. Absent is the direction from leadership. Therapeutic methods are not uniform and follow no cycle or direction. If it wasent for the BHTs, RNs, and certain SWs, the place would fold.  What the staff know about the corporation is from the internet. If suggestions are made, they are viewed as rocking the  ship of the dictator. No job is secure, and we work out of fear. Even posting this makes you wonder if they can find out its you. Turnover is around 75%. That alone speaks for itself. The doctors are amazing. The nurses deserve the Purple Heart. Only reason I stayed is because the patients need us. Believe it or not, the patients are well cared for. If you care more about the patient than anything else, you can survive.

Poor management. If you go with the flow and don't speak your mind you'll get along just fine. They are liars and two faced.  If you value any license you may have stay away. Moral is bad. Co-workers are so stressed out and many have begun to lie about each other to cover their own mistakes. No accountability by many. Can't trust anyone. Ask the supervisors for help and you don't get it. Training sucks.  They fire and rehire, it's a cycle there. Down staff when the acuity is too high. Patient to nurse ratio is off and they don't care. New BHT's are not trained right. No communication between management and nursing. Always a lack of, different day, different rules. Quick to tell you what you do wrong, but not when you do good. When they want something from you they are nice. They let the patients do what they want. They can sleep all day and stay on the phone all day. It's Hotel Sonora. Hardly any therapeutic groups. On the weekends patients are left to watch movies, play games, and color. No structure at all. PTO is lousy, and insurance is high. Pay is good. If you have thick skin and don't care about anyone but yourself then this is the place for you.

I was fired from Sonora after reporting abuse of a patient by a nurse. They used the fact that I called in when my mother died as their excuse to fire me, but I was informed that the nurse that I reported was a friend of my supervisor. I had no warnings previously to that and was simply fired 2 days after learning I was pregnant. The small children ward is insane and I was one of only a couple employees who would work it, and they were dangerously understaffed, so be careful if you work here. They will hurt themselves just to spite you. Understaffing makes things dangerous and you often will work a whole shift with no breaks. Nurses often have to stay later than their 12 hours because they are so busy during the day that they can't get all of their documentation done. The upper management will tell you how much they care about you and how the company doesn't work without you but it isn't true. Look somewhere else.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Stress level is low for me in relation to my previous position .   The company is not ran like a bootcamp for employees, and this in my opinion makes it a comfortable environment to be in.  

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
A position in Psych is stressful, however the company itself is very decent to employees.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Any psych work environment is stressful and this is mainly related to the mental health field we chose to be part of.  In my opinion Sonora is a decent place to work and tries to accommodate many. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Busy , as any other nursing position . Depending on your coworker and the assigned unit , it could go smoothly or you will have to give 200% to make up for the slacker you are working with.

Lower paying compared to other places and yearly raises don't match inflation.
Lots of talk about upper management decisions but the charge nurses and techs are generally good to work with. 
Safety is concern, mainly due to low staffing. They have a ratio limit of staff to patients which can leave you by yourself sometimes with only a radio if you need help.
Management also has a habit of calling you in asking for help saying they are short-staffed and then sending you home on your scheduled days so they don't have to pay overtime. No shift bonuses for techs either, but they do have them for nurses.
The work itself isn't difficult but unfortunately, charting is done with paper instead of an EMR.
Occasionally, they do spring for catering which is nice and there is an on-site shop with a kiosk check-out. They also do drawings for gift baskets/cards for various things.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Order picker 18 salaries reported	$33.83 per hour
Medical scribe 7 salaries reported	$18.00 per hour
Social worker 1 salary reported	$25.00 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 4 salaries reported	$29.00 per hour
Clinician 4 salaries reported	$27.00 per hour

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