RD_Congo

Couple of more points I never mentioned in my initial posting: I quit after starting this thread, by the way, and never went back to that most-stressful, most-dangerous of situations. (1) After I quit, I got word from a social worker that he was now supposed to handle both therapy groups (alone) and all intake admissions (alone). Other facilities would have had two people in intake, and two people doing groups. But for UHS, one staff can do the job of four people! Clearly, on a busy intake day, groups simply won't happen, regulations be damned. (2) Before quitting, daydreaming about moving within UHS to a state with more pay, I decided to call a UHS facility in that state. Sure enough, by local standards, UHS pays pathetic hourly rates, so they also have terrible conditions, with short-staffed and high turnover issues. In short, if you're thinking about working for UHS (especially psychiatry/mental health), DON'T PUNISH YOURSELF LIKE THAT!!! Last little thing, then I'll shut up, they screw up my pay again with my final pay check, gave me 300 instead of the 1,000 or so it should have been. They've admitted they've screwed up, but won't say by how much. Now, after I've returned my key and my badge, they're harassing me about returning "the two small keys". Mind you, they only ever gave me one key. I guess they're desperate for that $50 deduction for not returning badge/key.

How do I edit the title on this thread? I just realized I wrote the wrong name for the company. The correct name is "Universal Health Services". Maybe a moderator could fix this for me? Thanks!

I felt a moral need to say something about working as an RN for UHS. Specifically, I have been working in the intake department of a freestanding psychiatric hospital in the Southeast region. I have had several jobs working in the psychiatric departments at large hospitals with various companies; they were all at least "okay". I had had one previous bad experience at a small freestanding psych facility. But this time, I told myself UHS is a large, national, company: surely they know what they're doing. Furthermore, a few comments on this Web site suggested the company was okay, so that reassured me a great deal. Unfortunately, it has been a terrible experience, and I am probably quitting this week, even though I don't have another job lined up yet, and I do have a family to support. The facility was new, with the department transferring over from their local full-scale hospital. They wanted to cut the nurses' pay by about 10 dollars per hour, so only two nurses came from the mental health department at the hospital; everyone else quit and refused to take the pay cut. Stupidly, without knowing all these details, I took a position at the new freestanding location. First surprise: the facility was going back to paper charting. At the main hospital, they had used Cerner, but they figured they could save a dime by using paper, betting that the government would not move ahead with new requirements. That was a major red flag, but I had already quit my other job. 80% - 90% of the new staff, and I'm not exaggerating here, was composed of local trash. The mental health techs have literally been caught sleeping in the milieu, in front of the patients, but don't get fired. Literally every other nurse, (with the exception of night shift and some of the supervisors), has EXTREME personality disorders, and were fired from their last jobs for their behaviors. Without going through the entire list, they speak in a demeaning way to patients and visitors, they verbally assault intake staff when they have to do an admission, and they exhibit extreme passive-aggressive behaviors. The weekend doctors are great, but the main doctor, the one who is usually there, also has extreme personality disorders and was recently fired. There is not any controversy about any of this: all the staff, up to the CEO, has confirmed that they understand these extreme personality problems. I am all alone in intake, even though police drop off patients at an unpredictable rate. Many patients can arrive all at once. There is no bathroom in the area, so you have to walk patients to the other corner of the facility. Worst of all: they mix children and adults in intake. Some of the adults are child molesters; some of the children have suffered traumatic experiences. It is EXTREMELY unsafe. UHS, seemingly, would do ANYTHING to save one penny. Their shortsightedness and stupidity then create situations that cost them much more money. If they would do things the correct way, work would be done properly, and they would end up making more money. But in idiot fashion, they save a penny today, but have to pay for it big time tomorrow. By the way, it's been 27 days and after 6 phone calls, the idiots at their "benefits" department still claim they're doing "research" to find out why my insurance hasn't been activated. But you guessed it: my pay is docked every week for the non-existent insurance. I truly cannot understand how this company is profitable on the stock exchange. I suspect they may be doing some funky accounting. Do not be an idiot like me and accept a job at UHS!

i know this post is two years old, but why did you have to tell "your side of the story"? why didn't you just shut the door and go about your business?

And we all know that laws never change, right? That's why we still have alcohol prohibition and the gangsters that go along with that black market, right? The largest state in the U.S. is probably going to legalize by referendum in 2012? The myth of the "Killer Weed" is dead. And by the way, the original poster got caught because of smoking on off time. Urine tests can go back 10-14 days. Blood tests go back a few days. If you really only want to catch the ones who smoke at work or before work, use a saliva test. Most don't care about the truth, so they don't choose that option.

Let's just remember that alcohol is much more dangerous than cannabis. To take only one point, it is quite easy to drink too much and die. It is impossible to smoke too much and die. So I hope anyone that says, "Shame on you, potsmoker," never drinks.

Could anyone give me a ball park figure - What would be the hourly pay for an RN with one year of psych and med-surg experience? THANK YOU!!!!!!!

There seems to be some disagreement about whether or not there is still a nursing shortage in NM. Another poster recently mentioned that recruiters are getting hundreds of applications a day. Looking at the hospitals' Web sites, it looks like there are some openings, but nothing like last year. And I'm guessing a new grad is at a major disadvantage. Drop out of nursing school and look for a job as a bureaucrat in the new socialist system?

I'm not quite sure where some of the previous posters are getting their information. Lynchburg is an easy place for an RN to get a job. Centra Health has a long list of RN job openings. New Grads can even get hired to specialty units like ICU or psych. http://www.centrahealth.com/career/jobs.aspx I am a new grad and was recently hired to a specialty unit at Centra. Associates Degree. No hospital experience. For LPN's, I admit most hospitals are trying to phase you out.

I'm assuming that the dollars you are citing are Australia dollars, not US dollars? So $60,000 AUD is actually US 39,000 ?

Thanks for the info. The Virginia BON site is pretty weak and some of the links are broken. Does anyone know what a U.S. nurse has to do to work in New Zealand? I know they pay very little, but I'm toying with the idea of going there just for the experience.

While applying for licensure in Virginia, I was surprised to see that Canadian nurses (outside of Quebec) automatically can become RNs in Virginia. Here's my question: where can U.S. nurses go and immediately start working (assuming they have a visa) without having to take the local version of the NCLEX? Thanks.

Looking for some advice... Yesterday I interviewed at a hospital in a smaller city in the southwest U.S. that is fairly desperate for nurses. Before I left, the nursing manager said that I got the job, and that H.R. would be contacting me, and that I could negotiate with them. Negotiate? I thought I would pretty much have to accept whatever pay and conditions they gave me. So, the base pay is around $24.75 or so per hour, not counting differentials or anything. Should I ask for $26 or $27 or something? Should I hold them off for a while, tell them that I am considering other options, that I'm not sure I can work for only 24.75? Any advice would be appreciated.

I just saw this other video of tiny worms supposedly coming out of a man's face. I don't have any good reason to think the video is a fake, except that I have no idea what condition would cause this. The human botfly lays its maggot egg in one spot, not all over the face like this. So what could cause this?

Had you already signed the employment contract at the second-choice place? If so, did the contract have some stipulations which made it hard to escape?