Pros
Great co-workers and an appreciation for the needs of patients. Very supportive nursing environment. My coworkers were like my sisters. All rooms are private and many of the doctors are very helpful and caring. There are employee forums where you can voice you opinion and make your needs known. Sometimes you can actually see changes. The patient services staff was great.
Cons
Poor staffing and limited respect for retaining experienced RNs. There is no charge nurse differential and the unit I worked on gave the charge nurse the same number of patients as all the others despite the increase in responsibility. Management is very removed from bedside nursing and does not seem to understand the stresses of having such acute patients. 3 different EMR systems are used throughout the hospital and none of them talk to each other in a cohesive way. The MDs that have minimal respect for nurses are rarely reprimanded for their inappropriate behavior (I want to be clear that there are many MDs there who are caring and absolutely wonderful including the hospitalist group). HAND WRITTEN DOCTOR'S NOTES! Very difficult to follow the plan of care when you cannot read the note. Often I would learn from my patients that they were discharged because the doctor didn't notify me.
