Psyche RN in bay area

gillijr1001 · Jun 12, 2007

there is also The Pavilion in Concord owned and operated by John Muir medical center....their jobs for pavilion are posted on johnmuir.com i think...

GalRN · Mar 13, 2010

:flmngmd:DO NOT GO TO JOHN GEORGE UNDER ANY CIRUMSTANCES!!!!! I just got cut loose on a contract there. It was obviously a low census issue but they said I was insubordinate. Damn right! I was on the charge nurse's **** list because I wouldn't put an Alzheimers pt in 4 pt restraints. She was yelling, and quite good at insults, but was down the hall with a 1:1 and the other pts could not hear her. She ****** of the RN in charge, and he told her to "Shut the **** up or I'll tie you to the ****** bed. I requested that she not be put into restraints b/c it was possible to manage her behavior in other ways and she wasn't a danger to anybody.She ****** me off and gave me a headache, that's all. He not only put her in restraints in a rough way (like finger shaped bruises), put then gave her a shot of a med that was known to cause her akathisia. Shut the door and locked it too. So he not only would not listen the primary nurse (me) but he gave her a dangerous chemical restraint, put here in 4 points, bruised her, and added locked door seclusion. You can lose your license for most of those things alone but he did ALL of them. And the verbal abuse was appalling. He also said that "Maybe she'll learn this time." Hello- alzheimers!

After that night I came to realize that they did not have my back safety wise. I was being followed by a very large psychotic man who had a hx of sex crimes and they didn't listen when I asked for a hand dealing with him. Finally an agency nurse took it upon herself to call security. If she hadn't I know what would've happened. He had me pinned to a wall when they arrived and pulled him off me. There have been issues with pts raping other pts, a higher suicide rate than I've seen, and they fully admited that a young MD had been killed there and that no one noticed for a few hrs. Granted, she took him into the exam room and closed the door which was stupid stupid stupid, but still, if they didn't miss her, they should've been doing 15" checks on the pts.

They are quick to use physical force before attempting deecalation and treat the patients like criminals more than humans.

In the end what got me yanked was the fact that the charge nurse told me to write the initial restraint order and do the rest of the paperwork. I politely refused, stating that he initiated it and that I had issues with the legality. That was considered insubordinate and they pulled my contract for that reason for that stated reason. They had a low census and fired a bunch of other travelers for BS reasons the same week. My recruiter won't deal with them any more b/c I was the 3rd RN in a month who they fired. One was because she was too fat. Yes, they really said that!

Stay away, you stand to lose more than your contract.

MBA2RN, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2010

wrxstiPSYCHERN - Before coming out to CA, I would suggest having a job lined up already. As the state is significantly oversupplied with experienced RNs and new grads. Making RN jobs few and far between.

Also, there is a statewide hiring freeze at the eight state mental hospitals which has been discussed exhaustively on this forum. The CA prison healthcare system might be hiring soon, as they under a federal court order to spend an additional $8 billion to upgrade prison healthcare. But the governor/legislature has been fight this in the courts for the last two years, so it may not happen soon.

One of the posters above mentioned the George Pavilllion in Concord. There is a John George Psych Pavillion in San Leandro that is Alameda County's PHF (Psych Health Facility). I had a clinical rotation there, and the clientele were mostly inmates from the local jails, and transients/homeless. It was roughhhhhhhh. I was constantly being pulled into dangerous situations, and I never felt safe there (and I'm a pretty big guy). There is a Private Psych hospital in Fremont named "Fremont Hospital" which occasionally posts jobs. And John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek/Concord has a Behavioral Health Unit which I've heard good things about.

If you are okay with working in a prison, then San Quentin State Prison is almost always looking for nurses. They are on the Bay, just a short ferry ride from Vallejo, and they have pretty attractive compensation packages (w/bonuses, pensions, etc). The hiring process takes about six months. I have a friend working there. and she likes it.

Good Luck, R