As I was doing my EC Drops this morning I came upon a blog where the author was talking about her work in a mental health clinic and I was reminded of the almost 9 years that I worked/managed one, and the reasons I abruptly quit. This was a large outpatient practice with 4 Psychiatrists, 3 Psychologists, and 2 Masters Level Therapists. We saw between 127-148 patients a day, five days a week. The providers in total grossed approximately $3 million a year. I had 6 full time and 1 part time employees. Because of the pace in the office, and the way these "professionals" treated the staff, it was difficult if not down right impossible to keep good employees. Then of course there was the way the patients themselves treated the staff (it's no wonder they are in treatment), and eventually the way the staff treated one another..........mental health or the lack thereof affects everyone in close proximity to the patient.
The problems I had with trying to handle staff and handle providers that had mental health issues of their own, eventually made me feel like I was loosing my own mind. I was working 12-15 hours a day, 7 days a week, taking 3 steps forward and sliding back 4..............I either left with only short notice or risk myself being one of the patients.
Monday, June 23, 2008
What It Was Like To Manage A Mental Health Clinic
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6 COMMENTS:
Deb,
Well, no wonder, you are so great with dealing with the wide variety of personalities you meet online!
Wowsa, Deb - you'd think the doctors would have treated the staff better!
I don't blame you for getting out of that situation.
I've only ever walked away from one job with no notice, but it was one of the best things (especially for MY mental health) I ever did!
Whew, good thing you got out of there when you did! I'm not sure I could have lasted that long. I had a hard enough time managing fast food restaurants.
i was thinking about a mental health clinic and wondered if the people in their really had problems or if they needed "rest". i need a break sometimes, but after reading this post, it sounds like it was not a "relaxing" place to be. if you check yourself in, how do you get out?
Mamaflo,
Oh my God, I laughed so hard when I read this I almost cried! I also worked in social services as a job developer for severely emotionally disturbed teenagers. I walked in on my first day and one girl was sitting on the lawn having a conversation with Satan....but funny thing, no one was there! The facility had a "quiet
room" which was padded and the kids had med check twice a day. There was also an intervention team that you could call to take kids to the "quiet room" when they got out of control. One kid sat outside and banged his head on the wall until the interventionists came and took him off. The classrooms were something else! I had to leave before they came and took me to the "quiet room!" I have a feeling from reading about similar experiences of people who work in that industry that it is the norm rather than the exception.
Peace,
Diva
Mental health professionals are sooooooo rude. I used to work for an insurance company and the times I had to deal with psychologists and psychiatrists were always the worst. I can't imagine they talk to their staff much better than they talked to me!
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