The training for new nurses is sub-par, minimal education on the “philosophy” of the treatment, no computer training, no training manual to reference, no orientation checklist to follow making sure that all components of training are completed. I shadowed another RN who had her own full patient caseload to take care of. No time to sit down and review things. 1.5 weeks of training and then you are put on the schedule. That is unsafe practice. Nursing is not encouraged to personally interact with the patients -just do the task assigned quickly, don’t bother to actually “talk” with the client. I was told to tell the patients “talk to your counselor’ if they came to talk to me. Nurse management is horrible- she is new to the facility, was hired to facilitate change, but she criticizes and reprimands staff in front of others, talks in a rude and condescending manner and is a bully. Staff doesn’t stand up for themselves due to fear of losing their job or getting on her bad side. One nurse said that once she saw the new manager belittling and bullying others, she decided to just keep her mouth shut, as this would lessen the attention on her. Many of the nurses told me to do the same, just keep quiet and do your job. One evening the Manager was reprimanding an aide in the nurses office while we were giving report to the oncoming staff. The aide was so embarrassed, her face was red and she was on the verge of tears. All of us in the room, and there were 6-7 of us, just remained quiet. I was new, I didn’t know what to do, but after the incident I approached the girl and apologized to her for not opening my mouth. I felt horrible. As a nurse and a leader, I should have spoken up and told the Manager that type of behavior is not appropriate. I did report all of this to HR when I left, in hope of a change.
Nurses and aides don’t get to take a full lunch. They eat in the nurses office and if a patient requires something then they must stop their break and attend to the patient. The Manager is aware and encouraged me to do the same, stating if I was a true team player that I would do the same. There has been a lot of staff turnover at Farnum. They hire inexperienced, brand new nurses without any experience in mental health or SUD. What I found most alarming is the day nurses don’t seem to really care about the patients. They tend to under-medicate the clients, treating them as “drug seeking”. During my training, I was told by a day nurse to change my patient assessment so that it reflected a lowered score. As a result, the lower score would not allow the patient to receive withdrawal medication. She didn’t “feel” that the patient looked “sick enough”. As nurses, we don’t get to decide who deserves medication based on our feelings. That is unethical. I refused to change the score, I medicated that patient. The day nurse then reported me to Management as “not understanding the training and not doing the assessments correctly” All because I wouldn’t do what she wanted. The nurses complain and talk negatively about the patients to each other. They don’t understand or they don’t care that these people are sick and trying to get better. In my opinion, I wouldn’t send my loved one to Farnum and I would hire a new Manager- one that respects and encourages the staff, fosters positivity and increases staff morale.
