Working for Columbia Cottage was quite an experience. While I am thankful that through them I learned some of the basic skills I apply today, I don't consider my time there to have been very fufilling. Misinformed, misguided, and unprofessional come to mind when I think back on that facility. Firstly, yes they do pay higher than most entry level PCA positions, but that is because they have no dining staff nor housekeeping, meaning that the "Homemakers" are responsible for fufilling those duties on top of taking care of 45-50 residents, a lot of which truly belong in skilled nursing. Which brings me to my next point - The levels of care are very varied, mostly one extreme to the other. No gait belts, little to no training on the plenty of non-ambulatory lifts and enablers. Medication administration was a mess, as they still use paper MARs and allow anyone to learn to med tech, even though they may not be qualified. Med tech training is very brief and all over the place. Management had their favorites and took measures and used careful wording to ensure any claims of favoritism towards them were dismissed or not able to be proven. Management enabled and supported mistreatment of staff by several coordinators, despite the large amount of times staff expressed their feelings about the mistreatment. They do not provide an open, welcoming, rewarding environment. It's hostile, tense, and anxiety inducing. Lots of bullying and drama as well, but that's almost to be expected at a mostly female employed facility with terrible management who tells staff they're easily replaceable and unimportant. I would not recommend anyone start their career path at a place that is not a true assisted living, but a glorified, polished skilled facility with little to no skills applied or taught. They really do a disservice to the residents by having people unprepared and miserable. There are some staff there who truly love and care for their residents, which is one of their very very few saving graces. read more
