Interesting commentary. I agree with the idea that unions have outlived their usefulness and seem to be doing more harm than good. No real benefits anymore, obligatory mebership if you want to work at XYZ company aka- extorting dues and no individuality. As has already been mentioned, job security for the incompetent or dangerous is a real drawback. What concerns me is that our own government seems to be making deliberate attempts to limit citizen rights as in the banning of collective bargaining. Without a union, it has been the voice of workers.

Regarding the dreaded incident report, not recording in the patrient chart that it has been completed keeps it from being "discoverable evidence." The tool is intended for institutional use for example, to trend occurrences for the purpose of improving processes. Making one available to the courts would create an opportunity for the litigant to take advantage of a situation beyond what might be deemed reasonable. Seriously, does this ever happen??? This is not to say that a comprehensive report of an event shouldn't be made in the patients record in fact, it's expected. Write an incident report too, but don't reference it in the chart.

Years ago, I worked for a brief period of time in the MH industry specifically with DD/MR people. I supervised several group homes and in that time, learned something about behaviors. I learned too that not everyone is cut out for this work. Remember, there is little money to support DD/MR in the community so these positions are low paying and require no experience. I remember interviewing someone for a position in a home and like so many, this was a relatively young person, fresh from college with a liberal arts degree read- no job potential. I really wanted to hire her because she was enthusiastic and willing to learn what she needed but sadly, she didn't seem to have the pesonality make up for the work. In this particular home lived a young male resident who was known for violent outbursts. During the interview, I asked her to describe a time when at work, she had to defuse an angry person. She said that she had never had that experience but simply would explain policy and stand her ground. "I don't have to take abuse from anybody." I ask these questions for the purpose of seeing the response at the suggestion of being exposed to conflict. If the candidate seems to get defensive or have the need to match anger for anger, I interpreted this as being a poor fit to work with the residents in this setting. There is precious little time and resource for educating workers in this field so you have to rely upon gifts that people bring with them. Some have the knack. Much can be taught but personality traits don't change. As a side note, I find the skills needed to handle violent or angry outbursts with DD/MR folks are highly effective for everyone.