Pros
The work is rewarding and you form bonds with the persons we serve and staff. The only time I felt appreciation was from clients. It is good experience but if you ever want to make money you need to leave in order to do so. You need to fight for a 18 cent raise. Always opportunity for overtime because there is never enough staff.
Cons
Direct care is overworked and underpaid and the individuals we serve are the ones that suffer. Some staff is more willing to do most of the work while others sit and do nothing, which ultimately makes the good staff frustrated and burned out. So the good staff leaves and the ones that are left don't care but maybe that's the only way you can stay sane working here. Upper management constantly feeds you empty promises with no results. They act like they know what direct care is like when they spend no time with persons served. They don't care about staff's safety and well being. There is a high turn over in all positions; management and higher ups are constantly changing which makes for inconsistencies. The understaffing leads to burn out, stress, and mistakes. This is especially dangerous when people with no medical background are administering medicine. Instead of looking at the reasons people are making mistakes, they are punished. The 16 hour shift is not safe for staff or persons served. Administering medication and driving around while delirious is just asking for accidents to happen. The vehicles are not properly cared for or maintained and most are not safe to drive, yet direct care staff is expected to be the ones to take care of that on top of everything else.
