Pros
- Get to see what people with a mental disorder(s) act and behave like in-person. - Obtained resources for recommendations.
Cons
- Despite having "mental health" in the job title, this job entails NO mental health work at all. Even though we are exposed to numerous disorders, we do not get to interact with them psychologically. Worked for a year now, and I haven't utilized anything from college, nor have I learned anything new in terms of psychopathology. This job focuses more on the nursing/physical care-giving role and none on mental health. - Going off from the first point, the daily duties basically required as an MHA: take vital signs, serve food, take glucose readings, do housekeeping work (cleaning, making beds, doing laundry, taking out trash, etc), bathroom assistance, and checking in patient's belongings... no mental health duties whatsoever. A bachelor's degree should not be required in order to perform such basic and mundane tasks. - Odd hours and required bi-weekends, which is not worth the small pay that is given. - Depending on which floor you will be placed on, majority of the co-workers are nurses, which a handful can be conceited and demanding. There is a sense of social rankings with MHA's being the subordinate.