Pros
The comradery between the employees. The employees are swamped altogether and rely on each other's help so it creates comradery.
Cons
I really hope that the Kindred facilities given 2-5 stars actually exist. It is hard to go to work when you feel like a slave or when you feel you are partaking in patients' suffering. Forget the pay. Forget the benefits. Let's talk about patient safety and employee morale. This applies to every Kindred I've worked... To save money on staffing and prevent overtime, they will use 1 CNA to 2 patients when a sitter is ORDERED by an MD for 1 to 1. On top of "sitting" for 2 confused patients whom endanger themselves, they will have 2 additional patients to care for. As the CNA is preventing one patient from pulling out his/her trach tube, the other confused patient is literally jumping out of bed requiring stat X-rays. These poor CNAs are put in a terrible position as they must choose which patient's situation is "less dangerous." We don't want any patient in danger. Many CNAs feel like they are treated "like scum." Since RTs also do not have any national ratio laws, Kindred is willing to let the RTs run heavy with 18+ patients, at times, than call someone in because it creates overtime. Watching these RTs managing their 8+ ventilator patients is amazing; You have to take into account that while they are constantly monitoring weaning patients, they also assist nurses/CNAs with turning, lifting, serving meals when it is technically not their job. Many RTs feel that management does not appreciate them like the RTs are expendable; It seems the RT dept (which is important) is being treated like an inconvenient cost. Nurses have their ratios, yes, however on top of their patient care (which includes medication, admissions, emergencies)... Tons of paperwork are thrown on top of workloads. Paperwork that probably should be done by a manager is passed on to supervisors and then to staff. The more your salary, the less work is what it seems. Nurses get yelled at by the patients, the visitors, the doctors, and administration via love notes. Nurses feel like they are forced to treat their patients like numbers. Since Kindred has taken over, there are less patient care employees and more middle management. When the floors drown, the charge nurses and supervisors stay in their office. Apparently, the supervisor needs 2 charge nurses because of the added paperwork; this paperwork is done by the nurses with patients. Acuity is required documentation, but is irrelevant as it is not followed. It seems as though Kindred allows patients' families to run their hospitals. While employees enforce rules which are posted in every unit (i.e. 2 visitors at a time, 2 chairs in each room, 20-min max per hour in ICU), administration caves and gives families clearance to take what is not theirs. This makes the staff look very stupid and cold-hearted. Since visiting hours are 24 hours, many families request so many pillows and blankets so they may make a bed atop 4 chairs. It will take a visitor 30 seconds of being irate and threatening for Kindred to give them what they want; Other patients are left without extra pillows or blankets if needed and now there's a fire hazard in multiple rooms. I've witnessed many times... Every employee working is in a patient room doing care. 6 other different patients (or visitors) need someone and nobody is available. Again, EVERY employee is already busy doing something. Complaints about employees working as if rushed and/or not answering call lights immediately can stack, but most of the employees have only 2 hands. When those hands are on a patient, we take our time as to safely deliver care. So the icing on the cake? Crappy pay and benefits.
