PHS has taken over our prison

Specialties Correctional

Published

Well, some of my coworkers and I have been posting off and on to find out about PHS. Now we know first hand. Their benefits suck...very costly. Their time off is limited...12 days a year. They do not take the time to answer their new employees' questions as they are far too busy to bother. How unimpressive they are! Can't wait til their contract is done. Unfortunately it is a 3 year sentence.

:) I have been working for PHS for going on 7 years and I love it!!! I started as a floor nurse and worked my way up to HSA, where I have been for 3 years now. I do agree with some of what you said about the benefits, but this IS a great company to work for. Are you the HSA, or just a staff nurse? The reason that I ask this, is because I am curious to know what is not being answered for you and by whom is it not being answered. Is it corporate or the HSA? I am in the Southeastern Region, and maybe it is different here, but I have no problem with any of my communications with corp. or with my nurses. My region is very close and communicates well. If I ever need help from other HSAs, they are always there for me. What was the company that you were working for, Patticake? And how long were you with them? I know that all sites are different, and maybe I love my job because of my site, but if I could help you out with anything, I would like to do so. Just let me know. :balloons:

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careful of how you word things. when you say "just a staff nurse" i assume most "just staff nurses" will be highly offended and assume the negative things people say about phs are true. this is from someone who is an "hsa". when you say things like this it reinforces peoples negative attitudes about private companies who do not appreciate their "just staff nurses" I find it highly offensive and i know our hsa appreciates our lowly "staff nurses". after all, without your meaningless staff nurses you would be out of a job, or very overworked. give some credit to those who work so hard for you, phs, the inmates, and their families. i think you owe us an apology. i hope your attitude is not the norm in phs's management, as i am still new to phs and i enjoy the company and ALL my coworkers and the hard work and dedication they show. hope you can see the point of view i am talking about, since you claimed to have worked your way up from lowly staff nurse all the way up to hsa. dont mean to sound too negative, but come on!

:) I have been working for PHS for going on 7 years and I love it!!! I started as a floor nurse and worked my way up to HSA, where I have been for 3 years now. I do agree with some of what you said about the benefits, but this IS a great company to work for. Are you the HSA, or just a staff nurse? The reason that I ask this, is because I am curious to know what is not being answered for you and by whom is it not being answered. Is it corporate or the HSA? I am in the Southeastern Region, and maybe it is different here, but I have no problem with any of my communications with corp. or with my nurses. My region is very close and communicates well. If I ever need help from other HSAs, they are always there for me. What was the company that you were working for, Patticake? And how long were you with them? I know that all sites are different, and maybe I love my job because of my site, but if I could help you out with anything, I would like to do so. Just let me know. :balloons:

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Another thing to consider is staffing ratios. PHS has a certain inmate/nurse ratio that they will not go under. After 27 years in the business they no how many nurses it takes to provide quality care. The contracted staffing matrix has to be followed. This means you can't be short staffed to save money and you can't be sent home if it gets slow (highly unlikely in a jail) If someone calls in sick, we have to find a replacement. Sometimes management has to cover a shift. I can't tell you how many times I went to work as a hospital nurse and found out we were 2-3 nurses down and we would just have to "do the best we can" to get the job done.

Also, in corrections you don't have to float to an area that you have no expertise in.

Some PHS sites do have weekend differentials, charge differentials, and even preceptor differentials. It all depends on your budget and what your individual HSA can arrange. Other PHS sites are offering a $4/hr night shift differential. Do a good market wage study and present it to your HSA or Regional VP. The best time to ask for these things is during a contract renewal when PHS is asking for more money to run the medical dept.

Merry Christmas!

Hi, PHS just took over the Louisville Metro Corrections. We had CMS in here before and it was a nightmare. Still too early to be sure but we don't see too much difference. Granted the problems we have were'nt made overnight... thus they won't go away overnite but we still are doubtful.

Trouble is I am loving Correctional Nursing. But we have an Admin who has no corrections experience, and a New DON who has none either. We have major issues like it takes 4 hours to do a med pass (with a 2 hr window right??).

PHS bid without ever seeing the facilities....

A week orientation???

HA we got 3 hours when they took over.... maybe it was assumed we new a weeks worth of material as I for one have 2 years on site, but I can tell you things have not been done correctly since BEFORE I came along..... I am not sure anyone knows what correct IS anymore.

I hear the benifits were less expensive as well as less comprehensive. I chose the more expensive of the 2 plans so I can have unlimited Mental Heath coverage. This plan is about the same as the one my husband had as a Pharmacy Tech.

--leslie

The more things change the more they stay the same.

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careful of how you word things. when you say "just a staff nurse" i assume most "just staff nurses" will be highly offended and assume the negative things people say about phs are true. this is from someone who is an "hsa". when you say things like this it reinforces peoples negative attitudes about private companies who do not appreciate their "just staff nurses" I find it highly offensive and i know our hsa appreciates our lowly "staff nurses". after all, without your meaningless staff nurses you would be out of a job, or very overworked. give some credit to those who work so hard for you, phs, the inmates, and their families. i think you owe us an apology. i hope your attitude is not the norm in phs's management, as i am still new to phs and i enjoy the company and ALL my coworkers and the hard work and dedication they show. hope you can see the point of view i am talking about, since you claimed to have worked your way up from lowly staff nurse all the way up to hsa. dont mean to sound too negative, but come on!

Sorry if I offended you!! I was not implying anything by saying "just a staff nurse". YOU took it the wrong way. I value everyone of my staff, whether they are my nursing staff or my secretarial staff. Everyone here has an important part, and I don't minimize any of it. I was just wondering if Patticake was an HSA or a staff nurse. How else do you put it???? Things are different for the HSA's and the rest of the whole staff. She was referring to the fact that "they" don't answer questions and are not very helpful, and I wanted to let her know some connections to the different places in the company if she were the new HSA, because it is a bit scary to go into the new roll if you don't know who to contact. I think that I explained that when I replied. And, by the way, you have no idea how my attitude is. You jumped to your own conclusions. My attitude is actually a very good one. I have a wonderful staff and we all work well together. We are very upbeat about our jobs with PHS and thought that it might be nice to share with others, since we have had no bad experiences. And, by the way, it was YOU who said something about lowly and meaningless staff nurses...not me!!! I am proud of where I started and where I am now. I hope that you do have a good run with PHS because it is a good company. I was just trying to find out some more information as to try to answer the questions, not trying to start a war. We really do have good resources available, but sometimes it might seem like a maze to get to where you are going.

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