Farnum Center

Inexperienced counselor cries COVET..gets son quarantined and treatment is Null VIOD....LEAVES INDIGENT. RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS ON TAXI RIDE BACK BECAUSE NO ONE WAS RESPONSIBLE....BUT TO NOT HANDLE THE COVET PROPERLY IS ANOTHER WHOLE DEAL....THE PEOPLE ELBOW TO ELBOW WITH HIM WERE NOT QUARANTINED AND ALLOW TO DO WHATEVER.....IM PISSED

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.

The people hear are so amazing, the food (the chef will definitely fatten you up with the most delicious meals ever), the house (2 homes, Ray and Webster, I went to Ray, Webster holds 42 men while Ray has 12 men and 7 women) is so comfortable and inviting. I absolutely never wanted to leave! I loved the walks by the river, the talks with the staff and that the 1st thing they told me was that I was not broken. I had everything I needed to feel better already inside, they just showed me how to access it. I love you Ray House...

Farnum is a pathetic excuse for a treatment facility. The majority of the clinicians are simply individuals with a bachelors degree OR have been in recovery. What happened to receiving legitimate, evidenced-based practice by licensed providers? Not only is this ethically concerning, but unfair to the clients who believe that they are receiving the best treatment possible. Staff is fueled off of nepotism and favoritism. If you say one thing wrong, then you’re immediately blacklisted and terminated. Don’t let the big business aspect of this facility make you believe that it’s legitimate. Find a facility that understands how to treat dual diagnoses effectively and professionally.

I am a client receiving 16mgs Suboxone daily. I have taken this mg for a couple months now. I submit a U.A. weekly. I have never had a problem up until a few weeks ago. For some unknown reason my tests have came back with false positives. Once they were sent to the lab for testing it showed they were indeed false positive. The doctor suggests it is the medication I am prescribed via my PCP. The past few weeks the levels of my Suboxone in my urine has dropped to just about nothing. For some reason my levels are extremely low. I have not changed a thing. I have been taking my suboxone every single morning 16mgs a day. However Everytime I false positive showed up I always had to submit another U.A. within that hour. For my second u.a. that day] i was told to drink water. I would drink a ton of water then I would finally be able to submit I u.a. since having to submit a second u.a. my levels for that u.a. has dropped. I am assuming it is due to all the water I am drinking. I'm not a doctor but my assumption in the amount of water I I drank effected my u.a. levels. However this is not a valid reason. I have told the staff that I have done nothing wrong and that I have always taken my Suboxone as prescribed never missing a day. However I am being told it is impossible that I am taking my suboxone due to the graph shown on the paper. Every week I come in more and more nervous thinking I am going to be discharged when I have done nothing wrong. I can't convince anyone that I have been taking my suboxone on a regular basis. I am being treated as a liar abd I can't convince anyone any different. I understand the graph shows the levels are low but I do not understand why. Next week could be the week I am discharged. It is very discouraging because when I had lost all hope as a drug addict I had Farnum center as my last option and now I'm being looked at as if I am a liar, and may be in jeopardy of being discharged from the only place who gave me hope and helped me to continue a sober life. I completed an IOP, I quit smoking week like they asked, I quit Kratom like they asked, I have done everything by the book and have done everything the have asked. Yet I can't convince these guys that something is terribly wrong with these results. I have set an appointment with my PCP to have blood test done for hep c and to see if the levels of Suboxone are any different with a blood test. What really is discouraging is how I'm being treated like a liar. What was once a friendly staff now became a staff full of accusation. I don't know what else to do. I'm losing hope in the farnum center the place where I came for help and my last resort. Even if this gets resolved I will still have that fear that something may happen again. This really changed my thoughts on recovery centers. When a recovery center is your last option, what else is left when it fails you? I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else, because it is depressing to have to go through when your life is in the line being a drug addict.