psychiatric nurse

registered nurse

nurse manager

licensed vocational nurse

licensed practical nurse

Willow Springs Center

They pay competitive rates because of very high turnover. Staff frequently changes, including upper-management and qualified professionals. Doctors and therapists frequently leave in droves. No EMR. All employees are expected to maintain a non-sustainable workload with frequent hourly cuts or pressure to work at maximum speed. Lack of oversight or communication. No encouragement from upper management. No training program to specific jobs, or minimal training. No EMR. Lack of security for patients and staff. High compassion fatigue and burnout. Rude and unhelpful HR department (possibly comprised of only one woman-or with only one visible HR employee) who is often discriminatory and hides behind corporate regulation-very unapproachable and condescending. All management are more concerned about corporate interests than providing exceptional, safe, or even competent services. Text/SMS communication is the main line communication between employees-on employee's personal devices-no reimbursement or HIPPA security compliance. High levels of liability in therapist offices. 
Most benefits offered, but are poor coverage and expensive. Redundant paperwork and large bulky printed patient charts.  Frequent security and safety risks to employees and patients. Shady work practices and no or limited accountability. NO EMR!
Ultimately, the pay is reasonable, but not for the work expected. 
There is a high amount of volume, and the job is a great way to gain good and bad experience quickly. Coworkers are all overworked, but generally supportive to each-other and to the clients. Most of the workers are cynical about their job, have accepted to do 'what they can' and no more, or are burnt out and highly emotional. Due to high burnout and lack of training, there is minimal competence, empathy and compassion woven throughout the workplace culture.   Breaks--what breaks?! Upper levels including therapists, RN, MD's, and administration all generally work through lunch-even if you still have to clock out. Fewer positions are salaried than before, so they can cut hours (workload doesn't change.) Frequent ups and downs in patient census that result in monthly 'crises' (presumably due to corporate pressure and lack of funding). Again, no electronic medical records system. Poor program development that changes often as a steady stream of new hires come in. They remove parts of previous programs they don't like and add in a Frankenstien 'hodge-podge' of things that they do like which becomes confusing. Major elements of the treatment process are often not completed or are overlooked, including treatment teams, notes, all paperwork, MD orders, discharges, INCOMING PATIENTS, safety trainings, qualified trainings for treatment specific units, intake paperwork, discharge paperwork, appropriate discharge planning, MD visits, therapy sessions, medical assessments, groups, medical necessity, and more. 
The patients receive adequate services, but the staff are all overworked and the company has a business model that purposefully uses workers at their max capacity and ultimately burns them out. The company is not based around employee satisfaction, and due to this, while the patients receive adequate services-they are certainly not the best services that could be provided or taught to newly qualified members of the psychiatric community (which, due to the company's reputation, is a lot of the workforce).

Rotten from the top down. Admin are selfish and messy, they complain that they have no life outside of the job because they’re constantly working, yet when they’re at work they barely do anything to help staff and patients and leave at night whether it’s safe or not. They constantly start rumors and drama and then hound floor staff (the ones directly caring for patients and people they NEED to continue serving patients and keeping their own jobs) for gossiping or being involved in drama. You have admin dating each other and managers having inappropriate relationships with staff on their team and prioritizing them over everyone else, admin are aware and let it continue. You work long weeks and are still asked to come in and pick up shifts, you can never use your PTO because you need to find coverage if you want any time off, and of course they never tell you if your PTO is approved or not in a timely manner so you’re left scrambling to find coverage. Working with the patients is so meaningful and yet it’s ruined by management who refuse to take any accountability or listen to constructive criticism. They’re constantly understaffed and barely functioning, and can’t figure out that if they treated staff better and looked at their own behavior, maybe staff would want to stay working there.

Long story short - don’t work here if you need a supportive work environment with chances to grow and succeed, they’re messy and they’ll tear you down and burn you out no matter how much passion you have for helping patients.

From the first day, I did not feel welcome by any staff, including those in the office I was directly working in. There were repeated comments made where it indicated they did not want to hire me. Guess people weren’t showing up to interviews. Throughout the year, I never felt welcome. After being horrible mistreated by a colleague, I went to management, and since these two were best friends, I was retaliated against, and my notice shortly followed. I have never been so horribly treated in any job I have ever had, and never experienced such a toxic and unhealthy work environment. Was so excited to grow and learn here as it was a good job, but I was quickly and consistently shown that I should have not accepted the job offer. And on my last day, i don’t even know where to begin. The treatment was absolutely horrific and was shown how little they actually cared. 
Oh and our department was promised a spa day. I was never invited. Favoritism at its finest. And they wondered why I stopped putting in 110% after the retaliation, my notice and lack of follow through on rewards.  
Avoid at all costs. 

I've been working at Willow Springs for a while now, and I love the work. The hardest part of this job can differ from day to day. Sometimes the kids can be difficult, but I find that most of the issues stem from inconsistencies between nurses and staff on the units.

Upper management is great. The managers we have here at Willow genuinely care about your well-being. They understand that you work a ridiculously stressful job. They were once in our shoes. They take our suggestions and complaints seriously. 

Also, the MHT's that I work with are some of the most supportive people I've ever worked with. It's the first job that I feel like I'm part of a work-family. 

If you can handle an overwhelming first month or so, I'd definitely recommend this job if you have a passion for helping kids.

I worked at Willow Springs for years, and it is truly a terrible place to work. Management cares more about themselves, than the patients. UHS cares more about money than the patients. You are overworked, and underpaid for the amount of work and time this place takes from you. There are several things that happen here that definitely CANT be legal under the medical board. If you report to UHS, they don't do anything about it nor care. The kids are supposed to be working their program, but there is no realistic programs. All your doing is pretty much babysitting, and making sure the kids don't kill each other. Your job isn't secured. You constantly feel as if you will lose your job. Management blatantly will tell you, you're replaceable as is everyone else in the building.  Also, you get physically assaulted by children frequently. This place is unrealistic when it comes to expectations for the children, and employees.

Willow Springs Center is a stepping stone, that's about it. If you are a Therapist, get your clinical hours and get out. If you are a Mental Health Technician, prepare to be micromanaged, overworked, and unsupported. There is a constant staff shortage of Techs, primarily due to the extreme stress of the job and lack of on the job training. Milieu Supervisors, Managers, and Directors watch their Techs on camera in their little office, calling them out over the radio to correct them, or to provide what I call their level of condescending "overhead reconnaissance."  Essentially, they can be short on the units but the Managers will dictate what you should do, or not do, over the radio versus coming to help. Or, they will refer you to the "chain of command" as in your Lead Tech, or Supervisor, while still continuing to "help" you over the radio. It feels degrading, you question your life, and it contributes to severe burnout.

Willow Springs Center is a typical for profit treatment center. Higher management places a heavy emphasis on "filling beds" rather than seeing patients are actually receiving adequate care. Management also seemed to promote staff that are on the same page as the "for profit" motto. In other words, don't follow the rules and you'll get a promotion. This seemed to apply to clinical staff as well.

Fortunately the care that is provided, especially with regards to patient safety, is usually above that of West Hills, the acute care sister hospital also owned by UHS. Training for staff is adequate, though watch out for the back stabbling politics between the direct care staff. Thankfully, the clinical staff generally worked very hard to effect change in kids' lives, not an easy task given the large case loads and thankless tasks therapists have to balance.

My limited time working at Willow Springs was eye-opening. So, let's start off with the Pros:
Every day I would go to work and have meaningful interactions with some of the kids. There's a satisfying feeling knowing you can help 1 kid get through their day. I learned from the children and I hope they learned from me. Teaching skills was also a great way to learn how to best introduce them. 
Now, the Cons: The lack of staffing on different teams/sides of the week was insane. The first half of the week would have 15+ people when the second half would have 4-8. I could make a large list of everything that went wrong there but the absolute worst thing about Willow Springs Center is their management. They are gossipy and cliquey and if you do not align with them, you essentially get ran out. 

Willow springs is a very tough place to work. The actual job as a tech is to keep the patient's days organized and running smoothly. The problem is, they ask way too much of the Techs. As a MHT you run groups (very little training given for that) for about 12-18 children at a time. Keep the peace and unfortunately restraining and intervening when patients are displaying dangerous behavior. You also have to monitor each patient's location and behavior every 15 minutes all while keeping the units clean and organized. It's nearly an impossible task for an under trained and underpaid tech to keep up with for a long period of time. Burnout rate is extremely high!

Yes our job is stressful, yes it’s a hard place to work. Yes they will crack down on protocols and do camera audits, all for safety. The managers and admin care about the employees. The employees are supportive of one another. The work culture is diverse and positive. Pay is decent and there’s plenary of hours available. The managers can be strict so about following protocols but there’s safety reasoning behind it. Everyone here has a similar goal, which is to help these kids create a better mindset. Help these kids become successful and be able to cope with the world around them. So if you like helping kids and don’t mind working under pressure in a fast paced supportive environment then this place is for you. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Psychiatric nurse 4 salaries reported	$42.00 per hour
Registered nurse 2 salaries reported	$42.00 per hour
Nurse manager 2 salaries reported	$49.00 per hour
Licensed vocational nurse 1 salary reported	$36.00 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 1 salary reported	$36.00 per hour

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