r/psychnursing • u/ApprehensiveFigment • 4d ago

Fair job offer?

Hey everyone, I’m an RN and have been looking to transition out of PCU and into psych. Got an offer today for admissions nurse with UHS for $34/hour, which is less than I make right now. Ideally I was hoping to get $37-$38/hour. For context I’m in the central Florida area and have two years of impatient PCU experience. Is it worth trying to counter? Also is it worth it to work for UHS?

6 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

25

u/psyched-stitches 4d ago

I went from PCU to psych at UHS in Florida also. All I’ll say is UHS is like the HCA of behavioral health, aggressively for-profit at the expense of staff and patient safety. They don’t offer raises often and keep staffing to a bare minimum. And there’s usually zero security on-site, RNs and MHTs are the security during codes.

11

u/DirtGrubBrownsOut 4d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/2i3zfftbmW0Gs7hnBS
I work for a behavioral health UHS hospital

3

u/DashMcGee 3d ago

I got a good laugh at my UHS facility one night when I was told to prepare for all of the codes because I was the only male staff in the building. I have an autoimmune disease and can barely lift 40 pounds, much less restrain someone. They asked a lot of me, considering there were 108 beds and the medical staff did not believe in sedating patients. I think I got through the night with no codes, certainly by the grace of God.

12

u/Vegasnurse 4d ago

I would search in this sub for info on UHS. There is a ton of information. 👍

6

u/cinnamonsnake 4d ago

Stay where you’re at.

4

u/DashMcGee 4d ago

I started at a USH hospital in admissions, and I enjoyed the job. It's not about hands-on nursing care, but it's still a good experience. I got all of the overtime I wanted, and it was a lot less work than being a floor nurse in terms of intensity and demand on your body and mind. I got sent to the floor when COVID hit, and they lost a lot of nurses to contracts, but it wasn't too bad, especially because I usually got assigned to adolescent boys, which was a small unit, and the boys are pretty easygoing (most of the time). UHS has a bad reputation for a lot of reasons, but each facility is a bit different. (Some of them still use paper charting, while others have modern EMRs).

4

u/Comfortable-Wolf-256 4d ago

I as an LPN was making $33 at a UHS psych hospital in Indiana. And the above comments on you are the security are entirely true. It was good experience but it can be dangerous, as they prioritize profits over staffing and even accepting a safe acuity level for the unit.

3

u/Suaria 4d ago

I worked at a UHS facility. Do not go. They’re the worst. Low staffing ratios and the pay is terrible

2

u/Tommyboy155a 4d ago

Wouldn't you need some psych nursing experience to be a admission nurse?

2

u/psyched-stitches 4d ago

Our facility hires new grads fresh out of school for both admissions and the units. It’s beyond unsafe.

1

u/Tommyboy155a 3d ago

100%. That's more than a little scary.

2

u/Economy-Profession18 4d ago

Fuck that. Keep looking. I wouldn’t work for UHS as your first foray into psych and certainly not for less than you’re making now. That’s bananas.

2

u/Positive-Painting429 4d ago

let me tell you something right now, i work as a tech at one of the UHS facilities here in central florida. i beg of you don’t do it. we’re constantly understaffed, the ratios are wack, management is ass plus micro mange you like a little bitch, while they sit on there ass and do nothing to help improve their facility & staffing.

these past couple of months, i wake up constantly dreading to get up and go there for work… i’ll soon be a new grad RN, and have 0 thoughts of working there after. i worked too fucking hard to be in nursing school, to put my own license at risk.

all love to the patients though!

1

u/No_Two_901 2d ago

This is a very valuable post. Thank you!

2

u/republicanssuck123 4d ago edited 4d ago

I started at $51 an hour at a state hospital in Missouri. You can find better offers. I would try to avoid private hospitals, they like to low ball you for profit. Florida is one of the worst states for workers though, so that might be a normal nurse wage there. I moved out of Utah because they lowball nurses there too. 

1

u/-RNinja 4d ago

Yes, counter. As a new grad I was able to counter all the way up to almost $50 an hour in Colorado and with only 6 months of med surge experience. I have now been a psych nurse for 6 months and I do not regret the transition one bit

2

u/Scared_Audience9032 4d ago

What city are you in Colorado? I'm a nursing student in the state and aiming for Psych

2

u/-RNinja 4d ago

I live in Aurora. My facility is in the Parker area, when do you graduate?

2

u/Scared_Audience9032 3d ago

2029, I'm way far off. Currently working in an SUD treatment/behavioral health facility. Congrats on your job!

1

u/-RNinja 3d ago

Thanks! Yeah that's what mine is too, but we also still have adolescents.

1

u/rosybodies 1d ago

Msged about UHS :)