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Elysium · 11:43 PM

Hey everyone...

Wanted to say "Hi" and also just wanted to rant a bit....

So, I started my orientation for my new nursing job last week and the first six days was a general orientation to the hospital. Now, I am working for our State mental health hospital/Institution. Being a State run facility, you can imagine that the system (State MH system) is terribly broken and dysfunctional. That is actually a dire understatement.

Everybody (staff) all do an excellent job with the equipment and resources that we have available to us, and also do a really good job treating the patients with respect. I have not seen any real questionable behavior from staff as of yet that I would consider abusive or neglectful...but the State does not allocate enough funds to staff the wards of the hospital appropriately, nor are the buildings/structures safe for patients to be in. (The State is in the process of building a brand new hospital so they are working on this issue)

So, today I was having lunch with one of the Directors. He oversees many units. It's a lot of work!! We were talking about the history of the facility. For those of you who have ever seen the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" with Jack Nicholson, this is the hospital that they filmed that movie in....and it was old back then!! The grounds are very intriguing. You walk the campus and there is this old asylum type feeling that lingers. There are tunnels that run underneath the hospital that are still used today to transport linen and equipment, and also to transport maximum security patients from on building to another. A very long time ago, the hospital housed so many patients that they would actually have to put patients down in the tunnels and have them live there. Again....this was a VERY long time ago and is no longer practiced.

Anyway...me and this director were walking around the campus today and talking about the different buildings there and he pointed out that one the buildings that housed MOST of the patients was so old that it didn't have any fire sprinkler system in it. He said that the tunnels ran right underneath the access road that goes up to this building and that he was down in the tunnels once before and noticed water leaking down from above. He started looking up at the cement ceiling and said he noticed that the steel that supports the tunnels was completely eroding. He then asked if I knew what he meant. I didn't really, but he continued to tell me that Ladder Fire Trucks weigh about 90 thousand pounds (he's also a Medic) and that the tunnels under the road would not hold even one fire truck without collapsing. He basically stated that there was no way to get any fire trucks or equipment to this building, that didn't have a sprinkler system, and that about 2/3rds of our patients reside in this building!! (Hence one reason for new hospital) These buildings are also full of asbestos and lead paint and a couple of the buildings have been condemned. There are certain areas of underground tunnels that have been condemned as well.

The good news here....currently the Hospital is being operated under the Department of Human Services....(total fail) but some of the patient advocates led some of the patients through a lawsuit with the State, for violation of their civil rights, and the Department of Justice has stepped in and given the Operating Officers some lists of things that need to be done, or else DOJ is going to come in and take over the hospital. This means that most of the current managers would get canned, but us Nurses most likely wouldn't be. So...we shall see. I almost hope they take it over. I think it would benefit our patients.

The other thing that drives me insane....

Furlough days!!! These are days when all State facilities must close throughout the year (during the week) in order to save the State money. This includes all State workers, including Nurses. How much sense does this make? They force Nurses to take days off, to save money (State won't have to pay them), but then they make other Nurses work OVERTIME, getting paid time and a half to cover the shifts of the nurses forced to take furlough days.

I love working with the patients and the staff...but the State Government is about as sharp as a cotton ball!!!