Pros
Did not have to travel far
Cons
Kirkbride is far beneath industry standards. CBH (Community Behavioral Health) did an inspection and they failed miserably. As a result of their incompetence they are working on a provisional license. This is a drug, rehab facility that treats the patients and staff horribly. This is a for profit institution that only cares about how much money they make off their patients. Their charting was so below standard that CBH failed their inspection. The nurses don't do competent charting costing the facility a lot of money. The DEA went in a couple of years ago and found widespread drug abuse among the nurses. Over 3,000 methadone pills and other meds such as saboxen came up missing. They violate protocol by pre pouring medication and fixing their books so that they pass inspection. The management is horrible. They work their staff to death, and offer the lowest pay in the industry. Mental health techs have to work double shifts to make any real monies. They have a high turn over rate because they can't keep nurses. There are few full time nurses most nurses are pool or agency because the pay is so low. They routinely try to make nurses and techs work double shifts which put patient safety at risk. Some nurses are working 16 hour days with minimal help. Orientation is ridiculous. They give a three day orientation in which they flood you with a ton of papers to read, then you orient on the floor for two days, and then you are on your own. Kirkbride has a horrible reputation among psychiatric hospitals for this reason. Many of the nurses there are unhappy and looking for other work. They are constantly looking to hire but nobody wants to work for such low wages,with the amount of work staff is expected to do. They work you to death and don'[t appreciate what you do. They will fire you for the littlest of infractions and then complain that they have no nurses. Using agency nurses is costing Kirkbride a ton of money, so that regular staff makes very low wages. ||They work staff like work horses. They working atmosphere is so stressful and there is a lot of bullying that goes on at the job. They have a African guy there who is terrible at creating a positive work environment. And the nurse managers also create a hostile abusive working environment. How in the world can someone learn enough in three days of orientation to be left completely alone to manage a floor. Kirkbride should be closed down. All they talk about during orientation is doing correct documentation to please CBH. They make it clear that it is not about the patients just about the money. It is more like a jail than a place to recover from mental illness, alcohol and drug abuse. The workers start a lot of rumors about each other which causes a very hostile work environment. I would never ever recommend Kirkbride as a place to work, I would warn agencies against sending any of your staff there. And for patients looking for rehab Kirkbride is not some place where you will get the help you need. Due to the hostile and cold working environment staff becomes indifferent to the patients and provides horrible care.