Reply With QuoteUnions---gotta love them (NOT!) Try to get rid of the idiots, and they get kept instead.
Decades of abuse by Union Protected workers in New York State
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/ny...isabled&st=cse
Unions---gotta love them (NOT!) Try to get rid of the idiots, and they get kept instead.
Did you read the article - knowing the lengths we go to to give excellent compassionate care - and stories like this make all group homes look bad - wih regard to unions the Teachers Union in the Los Angeles Unified school district is currently blocking the disciplinary firing of over 200 teachers currently on paid administrative leave for abusive and sexually inappropriate behavior with students. I do think that originally most Unions were well intentioned attempts to protect workers but it's gone way too far.
Yes, I read the story.
Employees across the capital region, the area where Mr. Monsour works, were recently warned to keep quiet about episodes inside the group homes. One handout distributed by management bluntly directed employees not to mention reports of abuse in daily progress notes kept on residents. Doing so, the handout warned, could make them subject to subpoena.
“DON’T report in your notes that an Incident Report was filled out,” the instructions said, adding: “IF IT ISN’T DOCUMENTED, IT WASN’T DONE.”
This quote is what gets me, though. Per a former instructor, any mention of an Incident report in charting really opens up a different can of worms. Obviously investigations should be done, which were obviously neglected in this article.
I think that PESI has a Continuing Ed seminar regarding charting coming up. Have seriously thought about taking it. You know the saying: KYA. Maybe it could help in instances like this?
I like the comment about the mental capacity of some residents: some get violent---a reflex due to their cognitive functions. How many Health Care workers realize that?
I find that most violent acting out among the DD/MR community is often attributed to behavior of staff = Even the most severely cogitively impaired individuals are actually quite smart and very sweet but when they get scared or angry often justifiably they don't know their own strength.Originally Posted by cougarnurse
I always tell staff not to assume that because they are developmentally disabled they are stupid. They are very intuitive and act on instinct.
H
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.
I support unions and their purpose. They have provided many social and financial changes for the good in the world.
However unfortunately Unions also promote a Dictatorship of Mass Mediocrity.
I don't care for unions. They incite their members by manipulating information to the unions advantage. And when a majority of union members vote to strike because they didn't do their own fact checking because they rely on the union to tell them the TRUTH, everyone else has to go with it or get black balled to the detriment of their career.
Bottom line is unions are only in it for the unions. Most people who are actually paid union employees work for the union, not for the union members. Put another way, unions are like cancer and are destructive. Hardly a group I want representing me.
I believe in the theory of unionization but in practice, all I see is corruption with more losing than benefitting.
true. unions are very close with corruption so sad to say
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