It’s more prevalent in the industry than you’d like to think… Burnout is often linked with lack of empathy.
I worked exclusively with adults whose illness was severe enough that they were residing in various residential care facilities (RCFs) and assisted living facilities (ALFs) in my region.
I was a 3rd party and a mandated reporter and I can’t tell you how many times I hotlined facilities and did internal/DMH/DHSS reporting/assistance with investigations. Misallocation of Client funds was a common problem (especially at specific RCFs), medication errors/stealing Residents’ meds, neglect of facilities/cleaning, improper nutrition, and abuse and neglect were all too common…
At first I thought the same thing when I started that position, wondering why someone like that would even take those positions. But people are complicated and often shitty. Some people like to power trip, some people want to take advantage of the disadvantaged, some people’s self-care is so neglected by being over-worked that they no longer have the capacity, and some people are just assholes…
There’s so much wrong with the system and so much that could done to improve it, but I don’t want to frame it here in a hopeless sort of way. Our treatment options and accessibility continue to improve, social stigma of mental illness has improved tremously in the last decade or two, and there’s no reason to think further advancement won’t continue. But acknowledging the current shortcomings and feeling sad and angry about it are important to drive that positive change.
It’s more prevalent in the industry than you’d like to think… Burnout is often linked with lack of empathy.
I worked exclusively with adults whose illness was severe enough that they were residing in various residential care facilities (RCFs) and assisted living facilities (ALFs) in my region.
I was a 3rd party and a mandated reporter and I can’t tell you how many times I hotlined facilities and did internal/DMH/DHSS reporting/assistance with investigations. Misallocation of Client funds was a common problem (especially at specific RCFs), medication errors/stealing Residents’ meds, neglect of facilities/cleaning, improper nutrition, and abuse and neglect were all too common…
At first I thought the same thing when I started that position, wondering why someone like that would even take those positions. But people are complicated and often shitty. Some people like to power trip, some people want to take advantage of the disadvantaged, some people’s self-care is so neglected by being over-worked that they no longer have the capacity, and some people are just assholes…
This just makes me sad. :(
There’s so much wrong with the system and so much that could done to improve it, but I don’t want to frame it here in a hopeless sort of way. Our treatment options and accessibility continue to improve, social stigma of mental illness has improved tremously in the last decade or two, and there’s no reason to think further advancement won’t continue. But acknowledging the current shortcomings and feeling sad and angry about it are important to drive that positive change.
I’m in total agreement. What we need is fully nationalised healthcare, with direct political participation from the people.