Introduction1
DIVERSITY1
Safety Slides1
Driver Safety Slides1
EOC Fire & Disaster Manual
From our Clinical Director – Lyndsay Henry
It is very important to maintain strong boundaries with the clients. I know that you all work closely with them and that you spend a great deal of time with them; however, it is important to remember that they are not your friends. They should never have your personal phone number or use your personal phone, and you should not offer to run errands for them or pick up an item that they are requesting. Clients do not leave property to go shopping.
Please treat all patients equally. It is not appropriate to allow some patients to miss groups without writing them up in the shift report and not others. Therapists and medical can excuse a patient from group but no one
else. There have been several instances of BHTs offering to pick up job applications for patients remaining in Fort Myers following treatment or providing them with details of meetings they personally attend. Again, this blurs the boundaries.
Please refrain from doing “therapy” with the patients. Do not give patients assignments without discussing them with the therapist assigned to them or a therapist on property if their therapist is not working that day. Although those of you doing this likely have great intentions, it is interfering with the therapeutic process and is also sometimes opening up issues that patients need to process in depth but that they need to process in an individual therapy session with additional support. This does not mean do not speak with clients or help them with things like coping skills or anger management techniques or to spend time listening to their concerns. That is important for all employees to do to provide as much support as we can to the patients. At one point we had a non-clinical staff member giving patients assignments like writing a letter to their deceased brother that the patient was not yet ready to address and led to a lot of negative consequences.
Please watch your language while at work. Cursing at patients or around them is not modeling healthy communication for our patients. It is also important to avoid complaining about other departments or coworkers and gossiping.
In the same area, please practice healthy anger management. We all have stressors occurring outside of work and this job is stressful; however, those stressors should not impact your work with patients. Please do not argue with patients, raise your voice to them, or challenge their beliefs when they are escalated. Once a patient is deescalated, they often realize their own wrongs and will apologize; however, if overly challenged when escalated, they lose control and end up being more noncompliant. If you find out a patient wrote a grievance on you, do not go to the patient directly, this will be handled by your supervisor first.
Please be aware that the walls in the tech office are thin and that patients in House 6 can hear what is being said. Also, do not yell over the Walkie Talkies. Patients are listening even when we do not realize it. If you
disagree with a decision I make or another staff member makes, discuss it with them privately. Do not vent about it to patients.
Also, please do not threaten taking patients’ privileges. This is not conducive to their progress in therapy and can only be done by clinical staff. Please document any behavior issues or group non-attendance and it will be discussed in the morning clinical meeting. It is very important to document behavioral issues, because these will be discussed. Many times, I will receive a call that someone is threatening to leave AMA but there will be no mention in the shift report.
Please never tell a patient that we are short-staffed. This causes them to obsess over this and use it as an excuse for poor behavior rather than focus on their treatment. They lose focus enough without us adding to it.
Patients are now allowed to earn gym privileges after 8 days. They are not allowed off property until day 15. They are not allowed visitation for 21 days. They are allowed to shoot baskets or walk the parking lot during rec time at any point in their treatment. Please check privilege sheets daily, because they change frequently.
A tech must be present at meal and major med times.
Finally, with regards to AMA/administrative discharges. You often notice these events coming before other staff members. Please help to deescalate patients and to communicate their issues to other departments. We are never going to make everyone happy, but we can treat everyone equally and with respect.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at lhenry@wstreatment.com.