psychiatric nurse

registered nurse

registered nurse - operating room

house supervisor

nursing supervisor

SummitRidge Hospital

I was a registered nurse at Summit Ridge hospital for 6 months. UHS (corporate) is very greedy and concerned with profit maximization at the expense of patient care and safety. Staffing ratios in various departments are the worse I've ever experienced in my nursing career. Beds are filled even when there are no nurses to take care of the patients. On the adult unit one will typically find one RN serving over 30-45 patients. On the adolescent unit, one RN could be taking care of about 23 patients. While one RN caters for about 20- 28 patients on the geriatic unit. A nurse's daily responsibilities consist of administering medications, running nursing groups, attending treatment team meetings, discharging patients, handling phone calls around the clock and an average of 3-6 admissions (around the clock) on any given shift. Loved ones are unable to communicate to or receive updates on their family members who are being treated in Summit Ridge, because there is no one to handle phone calls and the nurse is always overwhelmed. Patients are treated like animals in this hospital. Patient care is non-existent. There are not even enough room or chairs for acutely psychotic patients to sit on, so they are found sleeping on the dirty floor all day long, since they are not allowed to go to their rooms during the day.There are not enough staff to encourage or ensure good hygiene practices. In addition, it's become convenient for staff to restrain demented patients in chairs so they do not move around and fall due to short staffing. Sadly, most of the elderly patients lose their mobility and suffer pressure ulcers by the time they are discharged from the hospital. Comfort care rounds are not routinely provided for these elderly patients due to indequate staffing. Patients with chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension and CHF are not effectively managed and often experience exacerbation in their symptoms while in this hospital. Even wound care supplies are not available in this hospital and yet they will admit patients with wound care issues. The meals are usually pre-cooked from cans, greasy, salty,  lack options with no nutritional value. As a nurse you have to stay an average of 2-3 extra hours just  to complete your work. The environment is not only dehumanizing to the patients but also to the staff that take care of the patients. The management is so ineffective, they blame their shortcomings on pressures from Corporate to save money.

I have been a RN at SummitRidge now for about a year. I have worked at other facilities in the area, but I consider SummitRidge home. I enjoy the other nurses and techs I work with.  It’s a family environment where we work together for our patients. Recently, they have moved to twelve hour shifts which really helps me with my work life balance as I try to go back to school for my masters. Pay is reasonable with other psych hospitals in the area. The nurses here are pretty diverse with backgrounds in med/surg and psych, but they have a good preceptor program that brought me up to speed in about 2 weeks. It is very fast paced with lots to learn in this environment if you are willing to take on the challenge. My day consists of nursing assessments, passing meds, admissions and discharges. There are opportunities to advance; from nurse supervisor to ADON, up to DON. You will be kept busy and given opportunities to work with different populations such as adult, geri, and adolescents. SummitRidge has made great progress in the past six months. They just passed Joint Commission in January, and management communication with supervisors and directors is good. The most enjoyable part of my job is working with and trying to make a difference in the lives of my patients and SummitRidge has helped me grow as a nurse. I am more understanding of mental illness and being able to help patients recover and go back into the community makes it a very rewarding job.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Engaging  with the patients, working with the clinical staff, and Psychiatrists,  assisting patient’s families and loved ones in ensuring that they’re loved ones are in good hands

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The unprofessionalism of upper leadership, low morale, poor work ethics, some unit staff arguing with each other sometimes in front of patients.  Caring more about quantity than quality of service, often times patients won’t have a bed due to the hospital being full but would accept and have them admitted anyway; and them build their insurance. I felt very unsafe working there

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very low morale, poor work ethic amongst most employees. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Reviewing and following up on hospital referrals. Assessing and admitting patients,

A typical day at SRH was meeting and assessing clients.  There was great team work and support from co-workers and management. I enjoyed teaching clients new life & coping skills.  I learned to be non judgmental of others and I learned ways improve my time management skills which use to be a challenge (hard part) for me at times.  I feel that my clinical skills improved greatly due to the level of crisis interventions and assessments that were completed and intervened during my reign as a Case manager in the social services department.

I was a clerical assistant in the outpatient department, but often I felt like I was doing a large amount of work for just one person at my pay rate. I was an hourly employee, making $12/hr while working through a whole shift and being told to go home and finish work (that should've been completed that day) the following day because they would not pay me overtime to finish the work. I advocated for myself on more than one occasion to recieve more hours, better pay, and even benefits, but was told there was no room for such mobility in my position. When I left, I was the only one adequately trained on all the office responsibilities for my team. 

Also, one of the higher-ups within the hopital forgot my name on more than one occasion!

I worked in the social service department.  A typical day is fast paced and stressful because there is just not enough staff to do the work.  Management is not supportive, is unprofessional and operate in clicks with HR.  If you have a problem, HR will side with management there is no objectivity.   There will be no one to go to, you will be on your own.  Most of the employees are kind and caring people that help and support each other.  The hardest part of the job is watching some of the nurses and the techs show their lack of empathy and unprofessionalism to the patients.  The best part of the job is making a difference and being the ray of light in a patient’s day during a difficult time.  

I worked as an Intake Counselor and it was awful!  Night shift is not supported by management's, there was no security and a lack of adequate coverage. There were added job responsibilities added almost weekly with no appropriate direction from the supervisor. Most of the time information was passed from shift to shift. I only had face to face interaction with the supervisor during the first  weeks that I was training. 
The work was not difficult but the environment almost made it intolerable. Many of the staff members were rude and unprofessional which made for a negative work environment. The pay is  okay but seems to be lower than some other psych hospitals.

Summit Ridge has good things but also some bad things.

First thing I noticed were the dirty floors and how the area where the nurses chart was in disarray.  One patient found small bugs in her room and notified the staff.  

I know its hard to cook for 30 pts. but the food just wasn't very good.  Also, it was difficult to get drinks when you wanted them.  I came home dehydrated.  

Group sessions were not very helpful but did meet some other ladies who were patients and I learned a lot from them.

Staff is very rude to patients and to their coworkers.  

Not a good experience.  Sorry.  I will do whatever it takes to stay well to avoid going there again.

What is the best part of working at the company?
My coworkers and my patients. Being able to see progress in my patients. Knowing I have made a difference .

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
My supervisor had unrealistic expectations of providing therapy for the patients 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
A pleasant environment to work in. Staff are professional and appears to enjoy their work 


What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Providing groups and assignments for the patients. Daily documentation on progress or lack of. Provides information on progress or lack of for my patients

It may have changed since I left, but while I was working there, they'd often take short cuts and spread staff dangerously thin. On night shift for example, there could be 75 or so patients in the whole hospital and they would only have 9 staff total working, and between them normally only one or two were men. So if a situation occurred often times there was not enough muscle to show when a show of force was needed. They would also sometimes admit too many patients to the hospital even when they did not have a bed. However, the direct care staff were all very caring, and produced an excellent team environment.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Psychiatric nurse 7 salaries reported	$40.64 per hour
Registered nurse 4 salaries reported	$42.16 per hour
Registered nurse - operating room 3 salaries reported	$38.50 per hour
House supervisor 3 salaries reported	$42.50 per hour
Nursing supervisor 2 salaries reported	$40.50 per hour

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