I start my new job on the 20th. I am a Watershed Ambassador for the Passaic River Watershed.
I took a job with Americorp/NJDEP because I was having trouble finding an env job that was worth it. So now I get to basically make my schedule for the next year, which is nice.

I got a new job! Woohoo! I start October 4th at a pharmaceutical company here in Research Triangle Park working as Customer Support Coordinator for one of the drugs they manufacture. The pay is a lot better, the benefits are awesome and there are a lot of people my age. I am so excited!

Cool. Let me know if you need any tips, I've worked with this population before!!!

I have an interview this morning for another job in Manhattan. We'll see!

well i didn't get the job with the vet clinic, but i have decided to go back to school. irony is i'm going back to get my associates, but then i'm going to purdue to get my second bachelors. wish me luck. i don't start back til january, but that's soon enough for me.

shelley j
sigma k

new job, oh joy
 

I graduated APSU this past May and now I go to law school in Nashville and work at Nashville State Community College as the Information Center Supervisor. My moto: Don't ask me, I just work here! :D

Gosh, I really miss being in undergrad.

Guess what!!!! I was actually approached by one of the big Directors in my agency today and offered a promotion!!!! It is for a Social Worker/Therapist position in our Assertive Community Treatment team. I told him I am really interested. They are planning to have me work there a couple days and in my current position a couple of days until they can find someone to replace me here, but it will be good to ease into the program and learn about it. It is really cool because I will be working directly with another Social Worker, a Psychiatrist and a nurse hands on with the clients.

I start a new job on Monday. A headhunter called about a month ago, asked if I would be interested I said he could send my resume over. I interviewed and got an offer. I really liked where I was, I had been there 5 years. But the new job offered a 10% raise, 10% annual bonus, and a profit sharing that average 12%--I really couldn't say no!
I am however getting nervous!

Re: Anyone starting a new job/being promoted?
 

Congrats to you! I used to work in an Outpatient MHC while working on my MFT licensure...it's a great stepping stone in your career...:D

Well I started my new position yesterday! I like it a lot. The only major difference besides it being more clinical and us being the actual "treatment" team is that the clients are much more agressive. Most of them can (and do!) become violent if they go off their meds. My first day yesterday I got to ride in the back of a cop car cuz we had to call 911 on a client who was becoming agressive. But we plan ahead too before we go to the client's home (ie. calling 911 before going into the home) so we never have to put ourselves in a dangerous situation.The Director also wants us to try to go out two at a time too so we are never alone. The client we had hospitalized yesterday, it was pretty scary because the EMT who showed up knows him pretty well from having to go there a lot. She said he kicked her once in the stomach and she also saw him punch the hospital Social Worker in the face one other time. Anyone else have experience working with violent clients?

last week i got a job offer to be a 4-H agent in one of the counties in North carolina, where i live. it's the position i really wanted, so i am very excited! i'm currently a reporter for a local paper, and it's just a temp thing, so i'm ready to get started on my other job. fyi for those who don't know what 4-H is, it's a youth development program that makes education fun and engaging. go to www.4-h.org (i think) or just type 4-H in the search engine and find out what 4-H is all about!

Me! Me! Me! As of Monday, October 11, I will be working in the automotive advertising department at the Chicago Tribune! I just got the offer today and of course I accepted. :D

I worked inpatient psych for 7 years and partial day treatment for 6 and worked with a lot of violent clients. In those settings, it was much easier, because there are a lot of staff around. However, one time, the staff who was supposed to be with me in an off unit activity room decided it was her break time and left me alone with 12 inpatient adolescent girls. I had a fulltime OT student with me, but she had just started and was very green (and timid by nature). Two of the girls got into a full blown fight and I had to split them up. I was thinking the OT student would call someone or go get help, but she just froze. I wedged myself between them and got one of the girls into a basket wrap and was moving her around the room as the other one was still trying to punch and kick her. I had to yell to the student to get help. Luckily, one of the RTs and a Child Care Worker from the unit were on their way back to the unit from the gym and heard the commotion and came in. A minute or two later, some other CCWs showed up, as the student had finally gone to get them. The others took over and I went to the staff locker and fell apart. A punch had landed on my jaw during the mayhem and it was hurting a lot, but I wasn't really crying from the pain, it was from the fear of what could've have happened and from being left alone to deal with that. I always handled a crisis and then fell apart later. I went into a treatment planning meeting once I got myself together and the psychiatrist looked at me and said "You need to go to ER". I said I was fine, my jaw was just a little sore and she said "NO, Go to ER now". She told me to look in a mirror. I went to a staff bathroom where the only real mirrors were in the building and saw that my jaw wasn't lined up. Turned out that punch had dislocated my jaw.

The only other time I got injured, there were other staff there. We were with the boys this time, 11 and 12 year olds and two got into a scuffle. Another staff and I each grabbed one and got them in basket wraps but they were too close to each other and the one was still trying to kick the other. I twirled the kid I was restraining around so that he didn't get kicked by the first kid, and was kicked myself. Lil sucker bruised my kidney that time.

Those were my only two injuries and they were both with adolescents who tend to blow faster. My recommendations:

Hopefully they've trained you in the mental health department approved methods of restraining patients. Also in the methods of getting out of holds, bites, etc.

The biggest key is never let them get between you and the door.

Adults tend to escalate a little more slowly than kids (in my experience). If they seem to be getting more agitated and you can't talk them down pretty quickly, get out, then call for help. The slower and calmer your voice is, the more likely they will de-escalate. Don't touch them, just talk. Emphasize that you want to help them. Stay at least arm's length away from them, and keep moving toward the door.

After the jaw dislocation incident, I decided my personal safety was more important than the patients' safety, and if I had to re-do it, I'd have gotten the other girls out of the room and gotten more staff. My instinct was "Stop the fight so they don't hurt each other".

Be Careful!

Dee

Well we are told "we are never to put our hands on the patients". Basically I believe that is a crock sometimes and will do what I have to do to protect myself. Anyways, I have off today but plan to implement A LOT of changes in the program. First off, there are 2 peer advocates that have basically had NO supervision so feel like they can tell the professional staff what to do. My director said that it will be my role to supervise them and give them direction which I plan to do starting this week. The second thing that needs to change is that the nurse doesn't know Queens at all, so she never wants to go to see a client by herself and wants everyone to drive her everywhere. That changed last week when she wanted me to drive my brand new car all day to visit clients. Sorry, but the best way to LEARN an area is to get lost yourself. Other than these two vents, things are good so far :)

New job in Student Affairs!
 

I just accepted a job offer at my alma mater, the University of California, Riverside! Starting November 1, I'll be the new Student Organizations Coordinator in the Student Life office. I am so stoked and I've been waiting for an opportunity like this since I graduated! I used to work in this office as the assistant to the Director of Student Orgs (who will now work with me, not as my boss!), and I worked as Registration coordinator for Student Orientation, so I'm all ready familiar with almost everyone that works there, my job responsibilities, the campus, faculty, and staff. And I'm really excited because I get my own (huge) office, an assistant that I know and used to work with, twice as much money that I'm making now, better benefits than what I have now, and a ton of experience in a job where I can use my degree, finally!

Yesterday I accepted a position as a Residential Counselor for a Group home. I start new hire orientation on Thursday, and will be in training for a few weeks, I guess, learning about case management, medication administration, restraint techniques, etc. I'm excited about the opprotunity but bummed about the money. And I am applying to do seasonal work at Victoria's Secret.