I have been inside that hospital. In the chidren's area the walls are solid gray. There are no cute little animals, no rainbows or clouds, nope, they're solid gray. A real child-friendly place it is. The children were heavily medicated, and the staff rarely inteacted with them. Gee, I wonder why they didn't get all better.

"he never got trained for that kind of job"
Sorry, yeah, I missed the "don't beat people to death" training.

Idiot.
~Shiv

Oh, Shiv you silly don't you realize we have funding issues here in Texas. They simply cannot afford to offer the "Don't beat your patients to a bloody pulp" class any longer. Another class to go was the "Remember, psych patients can mail letters." I had to alert the psych tech who told a patient she could not mail letters that this was in fact against the law. I reminded her even prisoners get to mail letters. This led to a serious flare up of my Cluster B traits.

I don't know why it's still open but this is where people can begin to shut it down. I have a few horror stories re: a private hospital and the treatment of my daughter. They had changed rules according to privacy laws that(used to allow family to visit child in room)family could not visit where patients rooms are, and for months as I watched the psych drug her up on 11 meds in 13 weeks I finally demanded to see her room.

It was without a chair.No desk. 2 plastic mattress beds. dark blue walls with black paint where someone painted "bitch". Nothing else. They "taught" the teens "how to pass time wisely" vs. getting "into trouble". While drugging them up. Most were foster kids. There was no visitor room for families. When I saw that room I quickly drew as many drawings as I could to decorate it and had them write an exception to the rule that I could visit her in her room and draw and talk. One day, they allowed her on a pass with me. Her fingers were bruised, purple...I asked her what happened? a nurse had slammed her hand in a double metal door. I went back and they called an x ray tech to come there to xray her hand. She was discharged from that place and on my way out I took down the number to call the Joint Commission. I reported the drugging, the inhumane living conditions no one was allowed to see; and the injury of her hand.

That private hospital is still open. They are paid by the state. They take mostly foster kids and medicaid. I had an MHP beg me to report that place and I did. His words:"I simply refuse to send any more kids there". That's coming from a MHP who can deem a person be locked up for psych treatment.

The reason these places get away with this shit is because most kids don't have advocates, though they have a right to them, and sadly the foster kids I met have no family. It's that way most of the places Ive been---one of the few parents who ever visit.

It's sick this system. Plain and simple. I'm sick of seeing children hurt by it, they are the most saddest of all cases.

Stephany,

No words to express my feelings after reading what you've reported.
I'll spare you Brazilian "stories".
I'll just say that I have no idea what "Joint Commission" is and I'm sure that even if I knew we don't have anything like that.

Stephany, the treatment of your daughter, sadly doesn't surprise me. No wonder these places rarely let family in to visit - can't have them seeing what really goes in. She's in a hospital yet the psychiatrist didn't notice her purple fingers? None of the other nurses noticed? Oh, yes that's right you have to interact with them to see things like purple fingers & broken bones. It's infuriating that you are the one who had to demand an xray. Infuriating, but not surprising.

It's the same way here. Many of the children in the psych hospitals in Texas are in foster care, so nobody gives a rip. They are nameless & faceless.

Ana, Joint Commission is the organization in the U.S. who provides accreditation to hospitals. If a hospital loses accreditation (not likely, by the way, they are given lots and lots of chances to redeem themselves, pay fines, etc) then they lose any govenment funding like Medicare/medicaid, insurance companies won't pay, etc.

Lisa, yes sadly, those places are holding cells for foster kids on their way to RTC's. I've seen a couple of them in adult psych wards since. To add an interesting addition to the story I told above; I told my own psych my idea that I bet they would not allow my daughter to come back there as an adult(they have an adult side as well). SO he called them and said he had a patient for admit (just to test)and they said they had beds open. Then they asked for the client name and when it was my daughter's name they said "NO." I've had words with the CEO of the place in person, and I'm pretty much banned from their property now. One person who was my insider there told me the person is no longer allowed to speak with me on the phone. We still talk, but on home phones. They cannot silence my voice that easily and this place is on my list of "things to do". You can count on that.

About the accreditation? they planted flowers, placed the "no smoking within 25 ft" sign up, got rid of the ashtray out front, and got new chairs for the board room the week prior to the "visit" from the ones who take a look at the place. They had no idea I was taking notes.No one ever does.:)

Lisa,

Thank you for the explanation. We don't have this Commission.
Only now I've seen the link Stephany left to the "Report a complaim".

It's amazing that even with this online way of complaining where people can even be anonymous people are not reporting.

As you said: "Many of the children in the psych hospitals in Texas are in foster care, so nobody gives a rip. They are nameless & faceless."

There goes Stephany fighting alone when other parents should be on her side reporting abuses.

It's amazing how psychiatrists don't pay any attention on all of these.

Here in Rio de Janeiro mental patients have much more faith and care from people who are working cleaning the hospital or doing other tasks that are not connected with medicine.
They respect and are respected from these people and not by doctors and nurses.

I worked there a long time ago -over ten years ago - as a 'psych tech' (a person with some mental health experience and willing to work hospital shifts). At that time, it was not like this at all, although I would not say it was excellent. We had regular training on a variety of things. I did a lot of one-on-one's. I loved one-on-one's. You just hang out with someone who has been judged at elevated suicide risk, and make sure absolutely nothing happens to them for your 8 hour shift. We certainly took dangerous things from any pt at admission - we took up belts, shoelaces, any cosmetics, etc. Men on 1on1 for suicide could shave but under close supervis, with safety razor. I hated that part.

The unit nurse would be the one to make sure a 1on1 was being carried out the right way. If 'census' got low, they might have 1 nurse for two adjoining units. Even then, as long as staff are decently trying to do their job, this is an OK situation.

The children's unit and adolescents' units were staffed mostly by decent people who wanted to run things orderly but fair. Kids had things to do.

On all units, I 'did rounds' once per hour - I laid eyes upon each pt., and checked it off on the rounds record. Plus, we took vital signs on all kids once per shift, and had to write a SOAP note once per shift with 'mental status exam' included. for any shift where this was not noted in the end-of-shift note, either the staff eprson failed to notice and would thus be in trouble, or did notice and failed to report and would be in trouble. There is no way we would fail to notice a child's hand injured from being closed in one of those heavy doors. Even if a 'psychtech' wanted to protect the nurse for that shift, this would be noticed and something would happen at shift change, at worst. things must really be different.

Occasionally, I performed tasks for which I was not trained. Fortunately, nothing bad ever happened. They got short-staffed one time, and ended up pressing me to give a sponge bath to a pt who had some paralysis. I have never been trained in how to give a sponge bath and I am not a nurse. But at least now when I share work stories with other people, I can always pull out that one.

Overall, I will say what I have told the many people with mental illness that I have worked with: the way to get decent care is if a family member gets heavily involved and stays heavily involved over time all the time. You cannot count on a hospital to provide everything that people in genweral believe should happen in a psych hosp. You cannot depend on a doctor to optimally manage care.

Doctors know basically how the hosp runs. But your doc comes in once per day, talks to you, makes any med changes, makes his/her chart note, repeats for any other pts s/he has at that hosp, then is out of there. They don't go asking about all the 'groups' and 'rec' available.

Mostly, the docs are just having the pt. be watched as meds kick in. A substance abuse unit is diff, as are the longer term kids units.

SA units were decently run. Very 12 step normal.

It was weird to work on the children's unit. I believe up to 12yo. 12+ went to adol. Kids were treated decently. It was safe. (Except for the rx drugs.) Mostly, in my opinion, I just don't believe that there are all these little kids who ahppen to pop up with depression or adhd requiring a hosp. IMHO, nearly all the families were terrible and needed family therapy. some docs would do this, but mostly the kid got labelled as the pt. and I was unaware of truly helpful work happening. Some parents had their kids in there, I believe, to build the case for a childhood disability, so the kid could get disability benefits. Sad. But nonetheless, the staff just carried out their role well. It is really up to the doc and the family to take care of the kid. The staff kept the kid relatively safe (except from rx meds and the stigmatization of being the labelled crazy one in the family when the parent(s) are likely the problem).

West Oaks is the most continually open private psych hosp, with a lock-up unit, in the area. Many docs have depended upon WO, and it has a strong rep for this.

I saw several people in manic episodes get hosp in the lock-up unit, get on meds, and get better. (These were people who actually had manic episodes and actually had bipolar - remember - I said this was the 90s). I saw pts with psychotic episodes get short term care and get better. I saw SA pts 'detox' dry out, then transfer to SA unit. Etc. The docs in the community have relied upon this hosp, for good reason - for good work - for years and years.

Also, back in the day, WO hosted the local NAMI meetings, when run by the late, beloved Evelyn Johnson, who died last month.

I have no idea if WO have had entered into some unscrupulous time.

Sadly, docs who are actually trying to help people with these problems will have limited choices if they decide to cross WO off their list. Very limited. It will be the end - or at least suspension - of a very long standing mutually beneficial relationship. Very limited choices.

Row1, apparently things have changed since you were there and not for the better. I have been inside of more than one psych hospital, and this is the worst one by far. It's awful and no place for an adult much less a child.

Let me describe how bad things are: these places are like hell on earth, staff control patients with B-52's in the ass. Doctors (Ive timed them)spend 2 minutes with each patient if that. They rely on unreliable charts; staff is under paid, over-worked. The private hospital I was roped into sending my daughter by her psychiatrist is paid by the state, little kids are there, like 4 year olds, the unit is a hallway. There is NO outdoor area. Fresh air was only achieved by walking thru a caged (complete wire fenced in out door 15 foot sidewalk)walkway that led patients to a dining hall. The adult wards are that of an institution setting, tiled hallways are the only thing to do via pacing back and forth all day. Fresh air/outdoor time for smokes are taken away if patient does not take meds.Good for the person who used to be a psych tech. Ive come across good ones too. No one should ever think these places look/feel appear like a sterile, clean hospital. They are just short of prisons. My daughter, I am certain has been traumatized for life as a result of that first hospital. It's just disgusting in the real world where people need mental health care.
As far as parents go? I never saw any! they didnt have a visiting room for my family, because those kids were all foster kids! who was getting their money? that hospital! What happens to them when they turn 18? forgotten.
It's a shambles, in no way is it good care out there. Anyone who has been in a medical hospital unlocked psych unit has no idea what the "real" psych hospitals look like. HELL.It's an ugly scene, and I WISH I didn't see what I have.