registered nurse

medical assistant

nursing assistant

physical therapist

surgical technologist

Advocate Aurora Health

I have watched tremendously high turnover in my years in the IL accounting department. The communication from management is abysmal and from what I'm hearing from coworkers, this is what drives most people away. 

Our responsibilities change at the drop of a hat and you're unlikely to receive proper if any training for those. Absolutely nothing is standardized. We have recently gone through a painful transition to a new ERP, reconciliation tool, and reporting tool (all concurrently) and that will help with standardization long-term. But currently we all have to build those things. Everyone is burned out from working through this 2-year project on top of audits, close, year-end, and just regular desk duties.

The FIS team that supports accounting and finance on various applications is super hostile towards us. It's almost as if accountants are accountants and not IT professionals, strange. On the flipside, there are some legacy accountants who refuse to learn the new systems or embrace change whatsoever (it's truly not that difficult) and constantly make disrespectful remarks on team meetings. Basically it's a ton of growing pain all around.

Just a quick aside, we're required to work 2 Saturdays during year-end. That sounds like a small thing but it just rubs me the wrong way every year. If my work isn't done, I'll work extra to get it done. Otherwise, 40 hours per week is already too much (I realize that is a US problem and not an AAH problem). There is no excuse for forced, team-wide, unpaid overtime like this. It would be completely different and acceptable if they let you take that 16 hours off elsewhere throughout the year, but they do not. Our contract says 72-80 hours; I haven't figured out how they're allowed to do this but I'm probably missing something. So yeah, prepare to have no life in January for no real reason. There is no such thing as an Accounting emergency, but I digress...

People in this role have to do a fair amount of presenting and speaking roles. If you're really good, you may also get the pleasure of doing demos for various things as well. Many people end up miffed that this was never stated in the job description or interviews, so I thought I'd mention it. A lot of people hate public speaking. I'm good at it but I hate it too and it wears me down to constantly have to do it when we have multiple managers who get paid 50% more on average.

Speaking of managers, motivation can sometimes be challenging due to the fact the managers rarely/never check your recs, approve your JEs, etc. Again this has improved some with the new systems but essentially the managers appear to be allowed to get away with not completing their jobs, and that same grace is rarely given to the staff. That's all I'm trying to say. For what it's worth, my personal current manager is quite wonderful. My previous manager has made my replacement cry on numerous occasions, so it's a bit luck of the draw.

Remote work is AMAZING, life-changing. This is what retained me for so long. I am proud of AAH for being a leader on things that should be nonnegotiable in this day and age such as vaccination and remote work. The CEO is also pretty fantastic and does do a good job of regularly communicating company-wide status changes and various updates. I think all of the new softwares are really good and definitely a step in the right direction.

To be clear we are "Remote First", meaning it's up to the local managers to decide if they want you in office or not. Some sites are being asked to. I haven't yet, but I feel the writing on the wall from the director that they'd like us to if only occasionally. That person quote 'misses when you could just grab someone and whiteboard on an issue' or 'see what everyone is doing' (lol). I think it's a matter of time. We also have some occasional social events we're pressured to attend. Some people like that; it's a culture preference. 

I know it sounds like I'm being very critical, but overall this is an above-average experience for me as employers go. I guess where I'm at is if quite literally anything else came along with the same job title and FULLY REMOTE, I would probably take it. But I'm finding most of the accounting industry hasn't really come around to that and I consider myself very grateful for AAH in that regard. I have also always gotten stellar reviews from my managers and leadership; if you do a good job they will appreciate and recognize you. Which is nice.

All around not a bad choice; a lot of it depends on what kind of person you are. And the problems that do exist are frustrating because they're so easily resolvable. Cheers.

The job itself was rewarding and hard work, but the transition to Advocate was the downfall.  The new management did not care for you or show any empathy.  My direct supervisor who was hired was a complete "" Her only job was to follow exactly what Advocate wanted.  She has had no vision, empathy, tact, and would write you up for things without merit and hearsay.
  When approached with an error in the write up she only said thanks for bringing that  to my attention, but did not change the write up.
  Since I had been there many years I have worked with numerous supervisors.  One thing is for sure in a big medical facility working long hard hours with people you consider family.  You need above average communication skills and fairness.
The supervisor needs a willingness to look at the  employees views as well as their own.  They need to  use their judgement to find facts; not just follow Advocates rules.
  You need to look at things not as black or white. You need the "gray area" when dealing with a medical facility with all types of employees.
 She had no synergy, no motivation to inspire for employees to reach their full potential.  So it became a job for me that was not enjoyable anymore.
Her way was to have her minions watch and report back to her.
The department was turned into a "gossipy, high-school tattletale environment where nobody felt safe.  Her sycophants would listen and report everything back to her.  Then she would "pounce" and make you feel like you were being watched and every private conversation was logged.  Everyone knew she had spies since she would repeat back verbatim personal conversations between you and another employee.
 I was a first rate employee and took my responsibilities seriously, yet we still had fun.  Since she came she made my life unbearable and I chose to leave without even having a job.  She would treat you as her "child".  She had no idea of the jobs that we were doing on a daily basis, the demands from patients, employees that could directly affect interaction with her.
  She could not understand how this might alter an employees response to her demeaning attitude.  She found it hard to acknowledge any appreciation for your skills.
  She had preferences for the RN's and it was obvious she had no respect for the MA role.(As many there who do not understand the MA role and education requirements.) I had worked in the same department for many years and made many friends with the staff and patients; yet, I could not tolerate her.  In review, I did the right thing.  I have had many employees reach out to me and are very sad I left.   Advocate should realize not everyone is a leader and base their hiring of supervision on getting the best performance honestly from their employees.  Not by scare tactics.
  Advocate needs to be about people as they claim and that includes employees.  

I started working at Advocate about 2 and a half years ago, and initially it started off fairly well. However, within a few months, I began to see what this hospital was all about. About 7 of the co workers I became friends with, quit within months of hire. As part of a company that believes in the happiness of others, they clearly do not care about the happiness of their PCT's. 

Number one; No breaks. You are entitled to a 30 minute lunch break, and two 15 minute breaks. However, you will not even get to sit down for 10 minutes! You have to keep your phone on you (a phone that every call light goes to) an you will keep having to answer the call lights consistently. Bathroom lights, getting a patient water, etc. It's irritating that you can't even use the bathroom without someone calling to interrupt you.

Number two; Short Staffed. No matter what floor you are on, you are guaranteed to be short staffed. What this means; more patients that you can hardly take care of. Patients wouldn't be so bad if the other faculty helped out. See point 3 for more detail.

Number three; Under appreciated. As a PCT (certified nursing assistant), you are the most worked, most stressed, and most used. The nurses make statements saying, "It's just the tech", insinuating that we are insignificant. We are expected to do everything right then and there, and get scrutinized if we don't do it right away. I have seen a variety of my co workers hurt their backs because of all of the heavy lifting! Sure, you get sent home for a day, but are expected to return immediately for more action.
  Number three Part B; You are treated poorly by patients as well. You can get hit, scratched, punched, etc by ETOH, AMS patients, etc. 

I was initially enrolled in the nursing program at my local college before starting at this hospital. However, after working here, I decided to pursue something outside of the healthcare field. A lot of the Registered Nurses here regret even getting into the field. If it's not too late for you, always have a back up plan.

WARNINGS:

Job is not for you if you can't handily bodily fluids spontaneously getting on you.

If you're not comfortable with number one, then number two (bowel movements) will not work. You see a lot of bowel movements in this line of work. But seeing it, and getting it on you is a different warning.

Your body will hurt. Everyday after a shift. Time to go get massages.

Notes*

Working here you have some amazing team work within your fellow PCT's.

Not all nurses hate their jobs. Only about 85%. And some nurses (about 45% are willing to help you turn/change a patient).

If you believe nursing is still right for you, please never forget about the PCT's.

Full time benefits are great.

At first I felt welcomed and was genuinely eager to work in the department because you can tell they NEEDED people, but I soon realized why after only 6 months I was let go during COVID because I was genuinely sick for almost two weeks dealing with a pre- existing condition.   I thought I was being transparent with leadership, I have multiple doctor notes, leadership never once asked to see them, the fake ness in the end had me completely turned off, I wasn't even upset when I was let go, but I can remember the supervisor being off a lot every time I had an escalated call... Just because it's healthcare, don't expect compassion, they don't care... lesson learned. I knew receiving calls from upset people regarding their billing would be a challenge but I was able to handle and put out ALOT of fires for this department and you would think those are the type of employees they should TRY keeping. The whole department needs mandatory training because REPS don't know what they're doing, new information all the time, very difficult to keep up with all of them and it's tiring working in unorganized mess, moral is low for a reason. My issue was with the leadership or lack there of. Just because you're a coordinator or supervisor because of your years with the company doesn't always mean you're qualified. The ethics are bare. This department is too top heavy, and when you ask your "one up" for help,  there's like 5 of them and you get different answers from 5 different people or no answer at all, stuck on the phone with a upset patient trying to handle an issue WAY above you. Then you have employees that have been there that just simply don't care about resolving patient's issues and won't route issues to the correct department so issues can sit for weeks and not get fixed, then the patient calls back two weeks later upset because the Rep before you didn't do their job. Then leadership expects you to be so professional for audits, while getting cussed out, and then when the patient wants to talk to someone in leadership, they don't even want you transferring the call to them, because nobody wants to do the dirty work of actually providing customer service to these people... I actually did, and was told I was too nice from a coordinator. The pay is the lowest for the area, Advocate Healthcare is not it and the customer service/billing department is a strong reason why. 

For those from outside the Milwaukee area, Aurora is Wisconsin's largest healthcare system and the largest employer in the state. It is a behemoth of an organization! I worked at St. Luke's Medical Center on the south side of Milwaukee. St. Luke's is the referral center for the Aurora system. One of the few positives about St. Luke's for new grads is that they hire them in all of their units. Whether you want some variety of medical, surgical, cardiac, neuro, intensive care, operating room, or ER---St. Luke's has a job for you! I worked on a medical/surgical floor and learned a lot. New grads almost always work night shift. When I was at the hospital, RN to patient ratios were absolutely ridiculous on the med/surg floors. I would have as many as 9 patients at night and CNAs would have 12 or more patients. Even when I was charge nurse (you read that right---RNs with less than 1 year of nursing experience functioned as charge nurses) I still had a full team of 8 or 9 patients at night while coordinating staffing and admissions and mentoring new staff (and yes, you read that right too). I floated to some units that were not as bad from a staffing standpoint, but having a heavy patient load on the general care floors throughout the hospital seemed par for the course from what I experienced. ICUs/PACU/OR seemed to stick more rigidly to the traditionally expected 1:1 or 1:2 ratios. The nursing staff tends to be quite young as many new grads, including me, quickly leave after hitting the 1 year mark. Like all workplaces, some of my co-workers were absolutely amazing and some were the worst people I've ever met. Although each unit has a dedicated CNS (or "nurse clinician" if the person functioning as the specialist is not actually an advanced practice nurse), staff education, training, and development was severely lacking. Not too long ago, St. Luke's was the only hospital in Milwaukee that was hiring new grads. But there are better options now. I loved bedside care, but the workload (especially on night shifts) was unsafe and unbearable.

I left Advocate Aurora because their organizational goal no longer aligns with mine. I traded up for something better.

This is an income driven organization lacking opportunities for professional growth and well-being.

My job was a revolving door with 70% turnover. My direct supervisor was not approachable. I could not ask questions about how to do my job without getting passive aggressive backlash and being gaslit to feel stupid. 

I was forced to learn on the job independently with little support. My supervisor was very cliquish, had favorites and loved to micromanage. My manager above would appear to hear my grievances, say something would be done to correct the issue but later sweep it under the rug as if it didn’t matter. 

Coworkers didn’t feel genuine. They thrive on gossip and exclusivity. Management knew this was happening and did nothing to fix it. 

Teamwork was lacking. Coworkers rarely took accountability for their work and passed mistakes along to others to fix because they didn’t want to deal with it head on and fix it. 

Departments we worked alongside were very demanding, reluctant to help and unapologetic. 

Your job expectations are high and if you’ve met goal, they’ll move the goalpost out of reach or change the merit increase structure, so you end up with a measly raise. If you’re looking to make money here, their mindset is like a casino. The house always wins.
 
Most managers here exhibit at least one or more of these personality traits.

•	Enjoys power trips
•	Enables cliques
•	Manipulates goal posts
•	Micromanages
•	Fosters pettiness

Your lauded the ideal employee when you’re a yes person who doesn’t mind overextending yourself all the time by putting in the most and receiving the least. You are comfortable with feeling oppressed. Most importantly, you don’t question their motives. 

If you’re goal is to remain a long-haul corporate cog with no will to move on, this is your dream job. 

Essentially, Advocate Aurora’s focus is their own egos and generating income. They prioritize these things rather than the people who help them create the revenue while providing patient care.  By not valuing you as a patient and/or employee, you should rethink giving your time and hard earned money to this corporate healthcare machine. 


I was working for Aurora for 2 and a half years. I always went above and beyond to ensure our patients were well taken care of and in a timely manner. I did all that I could to raise our scores so the clinic would not get shut down from previous low scores. Anyway, I advised my supervisor 3 months in advance that I would be out for a week or so for surgery. Once the surgery date was set in place I advised my supervisor, HR and the Leave of Absence department. The day before surgery my supervisor asked me to cancel my surgery because a coworker would be on vacation for 2 of the days I would be gone. I offered to come back to work 2 days before I would be cleared to return to work in order to help with staffing issues. I was advised that they legally could not ask me to do that. I returned to work right after my post op appointment which cleared me for work even though I did not have to return until the following day. I was back at work for a week and a half and was advised that I violated HIPAA by going into a patients chart who was not our direct patient, which I would do about 10-20 times a day as I had to do so in order to do my job successfully. On the spot I was advised that my employment was terminated. I had 10 minutes to gather all of my belongings and leave the premises. I was told that because of being terminated I was not able to get my PTO. They are also still fighting my unemployment. I am also still trying to get what I paid into a retirement fund. The cost of my surgery was also mentioned by the supervisor, which made me question. Then was told “this HIPAA violation” was done back in December. It was odd to me that the day before surgery I was asked to cancel and reschedule it, then a week after returning something that I supposedly did 2 months prior got brought up and without warning I was fired. 
I loved the people I worked with but the management was absolutely horrible. We were always short staffed and I was expected to work 10-13 hour days to cover others without being asked. The company does not care about their employees, we’re all just a number. 
I have been pleased to hear that at least 12 patients have left the clinic because nobody else in the office shows they care or help them as much as I did. Call it pity on my behalf or karma on theirs.

Had been employed 18 years with no complaints of my productivity or audits. New management came in and restructured entire CBO. I was in a job I loved, and was put in a newly created role under a supervisor my I had worked for a while back. I explained to Manager my reason for not wanting to return under said supervisor. Nope, that’s where you are going. I was the only one forced out of my department and all of the people under the supervisor I had differences with came to my department and another one. At meeting informing us of coming changes, I asked “what if someone just didn’t like what they were going to do?” Answer was, maybe find a person you could trade with. I did find a willing person to trade and was told NO! 
Had major surgery and out three months. Came back still in a LOT of pain and had to call in a few times always saying it was FMLA related. I was later told my one year approved FMLA was null and void after my surgery. Called in conference room and was terminated because I was over the 6 absences for the rolling calendar year. Aurora providers did the surgery and because of PAIN, I lost my job of 18 years. Oh, and don’t tell anyone what happened. Yeah, OK. They wanted me to leave and they would pack up my things. OH NO! I had 18 years of personal belongings, I went and did it myself with everyone watching me and telling me that I was not allowed to take any Aurora property with me. I was not allowed to keep my audits.  Unemployment was denied. Found a WORK related lawyer and we fought the denial. Aurora never showed up to the meeting with the judge and I was awarded full benefits. I also WON back pay and was given a letter of recommendation from Aurora. My termination was changed to me resigning! Don’t be afraid of them. If you feel you are in the right, talk to a lawyer! They knew they were in the wrong, because they came prepared to pay! Aurora does not care about you as a person. I was so sick with diarrhea one day that I didn’t think I would make it without having an accident. I was told by management, she would have been there, and the HR lady said, No, she would have stayed home. People come into work so sick and spreading germs coughing and sneezing, by all rights they should be home!

Salaried position, good money, Expected to worked long hours. Training for position virtually non-existent, just off and running; learn as you go. Political environment, backstabing, favoritism with perks, high turnover..for good reason. Supervised by RN's who are rarely available for consult, don't know anything about social work skills & abilities, therefore are unequipped to assess anything except paperwork performance and any feedback from families. Be prepared to feel like a second class citizen to a RN in any supervisory position. Difficult to be supervised by an RN that has no social worker training, doesn't know anything about being a social worker and therefore doesn't understand fully the role a social worker plays as part of the team--looked down upon because you are not a nurse (even though you have a higher level of education with a totally different skillset). You may choose to just ignore their ignorance. However, when they(management) want you gone, they will find a reason or make one up and you will be fired. [Saw that first hand 2x] Constantly offensive management and harassment, including insults and being yelled at in front of peers, without any clue to rights of individuals under Civil Rights or ADA laws. Hostile environment. Pressure when census was low, high expectation to find hospice appropriate patients, deliver prentations and have family sign up for services. Also Advocate Hospice was more concerned about rating of hospice in IL and asked employees who had good relationships with families to complete surveys with positive ratings. Unbelievable! There are a couple diamonds on the team--I have learned much from them. If you choose to work in this environment, be prepared for a challenging experience. If you can put aside the "problems" and stay focused on your work you will feel that you have fulfulled a social worker's purpose. The best part of the job was families giving me the honor of "joining" their family during a difficult transition, the death of a family member. I loved my job. The only other positive is that the company does have good benefits.

Hardest part of the job:  wanting to be in multiple locations at once, I manage 6 internal fitness sites, and 8 external sites, along with overseeing operations for 4 wellness/clinic sites.  Spreading myself evenly amongst all 52 associates.

Most enjoyable part of the job:  I love helping people improve the quality of their life along with experiencing how exercise can make you feel better both physically and emotionally.  I also enjoy adjusting an associates workstation to make the employee more comfortable throughout the workday.

What I have learned:  I have learned all aspects of working not only as a Fitness Manager but also a Business Manager. I have a sound understanding of Budgeting, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Payroll, Finance, Goal setting and performance reviews and preparation of monthly/quarterly and annual reports for clients.  

Management:  I have managed through transition, right sizing, and many other versions of change while maintaining associate satisfaction.  I have had to hold difficult conversations but the training in crucial conversations definitely helps.

Typical Day;  I don't usually have typical days, I may cover an open/close at a fitness site teaching classes and managing daily operations, I may spend the entire day updating the client agreements, Memorandum of Understanding and Statement of Work, I may spend the day creating the monthly department dashboard slide deck for upper management, I may deliver a webinar for the associates to expand their skill set, I may backfill a biometric screening, I may negotiate contracts with potential new clients, I may conduct ergonomic evaluations and write up the reports...bottomline I have a wide variety of job tasks that make up a typical day.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 190 salaries reported	$45.69 per hour
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Nursing assistant 130 salaries reported	$25.26 per hour
Physical therapist 50 salaries reported	$49.47 per hour
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