registered nurse

nursing assistant

social worker

licensed practical nurse

hospice nurse

Bluegrass Care Navigators

I’ll just get straight to the point... 

This has been the absolute worst job I have ever worked in my life. First off, "management" is at a continuous turnover. There's a new one every few months or so. The ones in the past have been some of the most rude, inconsiderate, biased, dishonest, arrogant bullies I have ever come to know. They only care about and make special arrangements for certain staff members. If you're not part of their "group", you may as well forget any ideas or concerns you have. There have been numerous meetings, one on ones, group sessions, etc. on how to make BGCN better for patients and staff, but they do not listen or take any recommendations seriously. It's all talk. You continuously get promised better things in the future, but they never come. They will make you feel so small and worthless as an individual and as an employee. There’s never a sincere "thank you" or any staff recognition whatsoever (unless you're in the "group"). They will listen and gossip as to what other coworkers say about you and you will get punished for it, no matter if it is true or not. You'll get written up over rumors and be told to "sit quietly and listen" instead of being allowed to defend yourself or tell your side of the story. The rules and policies magically change to accommodate certain people and when they want to use them to their advantage. There is so much corruption and politics and manipulation you can’t distinguish what’s true or not.  

The scheduling is another major area of concern. Staff from other agencies and areas are working in random places 24/7. You never know from one shift to the next who will actually walk in the door. They refuse to allow a staffing book to show who is scheduled. You're expected to base it on an app that does not work half the time. Set scheduling is absolutely ridiculous and unfair. You are required to work the same biweekly schedule and are not to request a switch to the scheduler. You're required to switch with a coworker. If you can't find anyone to switch with you, then you're out of luck. They do not take any personal obligations, childcare needs, or social life situations into consideration. You get harassed while you're off at home or on vacation, whether it is to come in and work OT, asking questions about previous shifts, requesting you to do things, etc. They are not respectful of your time off. You’re expected to check your email at home constantly. They schedule mandatory meetings and in-services at random times throughout the day that never accommodate night shift or the 10-10:30 shift. You’re still expected to show up. They have meetings at 7pm, right during shift change. Night shift gets calls and texts all throughout the day while trying to sleep. The set scheduling is supposed to be mandatory of everyone, but they do not hold all staff to equal standards. It is all just extremely unfair treatment and all about who you are and who you know.  

I cannot count the number of staff turnover there has been within the last couple years with this company. Staff of all disciplines, RNs, CNAs, management, secretaries, etc. No one is happy and it is impossible to find peace working within this company. It changes you as a person. You dread walking in the door. There is so much negativity, backstabbing, gossip, and outright meanness. It’s no wonder they have jobs posted 24/7. No one wants to work here and when they do, they never stay. Travelers get their contracts breached by management and they leave before their time. People leave while they’re still on orientation. It is constant drama and constant arguing. Every time you walk in the door, you fear for your job.  

Resources are constantly at a minimum. The company is only worried about saving money. We get the cheapest of the cheap when it comes to supplies and equipment. We can’t hardly do a proper dressing change/wound care with the limited supplies we have. Things are constantly breaking and falling apart or missing. We are not equipped to deal with certain patient types or certain illnesses, but we accept them as patients regardless.  

All in all, the patients and the work are absolutely wonderful, but there comes a point when the bad outweighs the good. This company has caused me so much anxiety and disappointment. It is not worth my mental, emotional, and physical health.

Growing up in Lexington Ky, you knew Hospice of the Bluegrass. You always heard great things about them, great care for patients and the employees were happy.

      When I worked in personal care facilities, I always enjoyed seeing the passionate hospice employees come in and do such a wonderful job. They loved the company they worked for which led me to apply a few years later.  I noticed they were no longer HOB but Bluegrass Care Navigators I wasn't sure if they were still Hospice but after looking at the website I luckily found a job opening at the new U.K HCC inpatient Unit. 

     I got the job and the facility was opened. It was all madness from the start nurses not liking other nurses it became U.K vs the original HCC. Management at that time did get it under control to try to make employees at both units happy. However with experienced nurses not being able to train the new nurse staff the U.K nurses seemed to have gotten lack of training. Then about 2 months in old management that had been in place for years was gone. 

    In my interview I asked the turnover rate and it seemed with maybe a few here and there they have had the same staff for at least ten years. I was excited about that to be a part of something that was discussed in my interview. Family like environment, schedule flexibility and management that understood what having small kids is like and is willing to work with employees to accommodate a good home work life balance. 
  

    None of those values were met a year later after they replaced the management that made the original HCC what it was. Management came in not really doing much of anything good for the unit. They were good at making staff feeling belittled, or humiliated. New nurses training another new nurse. Nurses not getting to choose what position they want or having a position taken right out of their hands before they were even trained to do them. 

BULLYING and FAVORITISM

  Management allows floor staff to bully other floor staff. So bad that they have lost good nurses or embarrass nurses and CNAs in patients room in front of families and patients. Nurses and CNAs have all left crying numerous of times by of the way upper staff and management has treated them. 

The unit manager has been seen up at the nurses station gossiping to "favorite" floor nurses about firing another nurse because she isn't able to keep up with charting and patient care. You cant talk to management about anything confidential it soon becomes everyone's business. Management will bad mouth staff to there favorites leaving tons of drama on the floor. Floor staff should have no knowledge about another staffs job security. If you arent a favorite dont be surprised if management doesn't even get you in the morning while they greet other people. 

  They give reconigtion to employees they like not the ones they dont no matter how hard of a worker you are. You never feel appreciated. Management doesn't want to babysit they say. All along while they have employees not doing there job nightshift watches movies at night while families complain to dayshift how horrible night shift is to them. Day shift is constantly on their cellphones talking on the phone while doing patient care. Patients arent being turned at shift change leaving patients soiled for the next shift. 

  The few good nurses are treated horribly by nurses and CNAs. They allow the person who does the schedule to know to much info from the higher ups then she runs out to the nurses station and tells people what she hears causing drama. 


Basically this is a horrible place to work management allows it to be. You will be threatened you are going to be fired, over something that has nothing to with patient care. The ppl who deserve to be there are ran out by management. While the toxic employees seem to thrive. They will always be short staffed bc of the toxic environment that management allows.


If you are mean, love to gossip and suck up to management this might be a good place for you.

If you have a good heart, are kind and compassionate this is not for you.

BCN needs to take a class on ethics and values bc they sure dont have it.

This company has it all. A great mission statement, a good set of core values, and a pretty new logo/redesign. I wish I could leave a good review for this company based on those things alone. On the outside it seems as if this company is doing everything right. They have won awards, they have been leaders in hospice care nationwide but an insider knows that all of those things have been earned at the expense of employees. I cannot write a good review for this company and tell anyone in good conscience to work for this company. I will leave it simple with a list.....
1. Nurses, practitioners, social workers, chaplains, CNA’s all spend countless hours stressed. Most do not have a good work/life balance. The company/management reports that they want that but offer very little to provide a good balance. Many work from home off of the clock.  
2. Turnover. Some employees have been pushed out, terminated, downsized (whatever term is most pleasant at the time) for various reasons. Some reasons have been justified, some former employees have been bullied, some have encountered a hostile work environment and felt as if they could not use their chain of command because management tend to be best friends, some have been viewed as having a bad attitudes. 
3. Lack of concern. Scheduling for nursing could be a nightmare. Short staffing mixed with lack of concern was troubling. There would be days that a new nurse to the inpatient unit would be scheduled with another new nurse or an agency nurse. End of life care is stressful enough! 
4. Management in general. Experienced and seasoned employees fired or bullied to quit for non issues while others continue to work that had numerous complaints, were aggressive to staff and families at times, and were disruptive. Some managers allowed for other staff to bully others and knew it was going on.  Management used initimidation tactics at times.  An employee has had to have a cardiac workup due to such high stress levels due to management. That is just one instance I know of....
5. A new inpatient unit opened without adequate staffing or training. 
6. Home teams work tirelessly. Their on call hours have improved but aren’t  the best. 
7. Orientation is minimal. There is no real education department. It is all on the backs of the already stressed nurses and NP’s. 
8. Tuition reimbursement is a joke. I think they were going to revisit that though. 
I so desperately wanted to give this company a good review because I wholeheartedly believe in end of life care. It is my passion. It is my calling. If this company can turn management around then I believe this company could  be a great company and not at the expense of those actually delivering the care to the most vulnerable people.  Healthcare is changing. Healthcare is a business but care, passion, dying, comfort, dignity, integrity, and all other core values are not. That is something this company needs to evaluate and ensure they are delivering across the board and not just to patients and their families.

Typical day involved traveling to patient homes or nursing homes to provide care management as needed. Being on call meant I had to carry a pager and frequently had several calls which I had to triage and at times call in the back up nurse.  Provided instructions and necessary education over the phone when appropriate.  Frequently had to make visits to pronounce a death and then contact the funeral home.  While waiting for the funeral home to arrive, I would provide comfort to the family, help clean up the patient, and provide information to the family regarding the process followed after a death and the services Hospice provided to those who had lost a loved one. Would admit patients to the program which involved completing much paperwork, providing extensive patient and family education, assessing the patient's needs and following up to ensure they received the equipment, supplies, and medications needed. Giving report to the nurse assigned to that patient.  Following up with the social worker, chaplain, or volunteer coordinator as needed.  The administrator of the organization welcomed feedback, provided feedback, and basically had an open door policy.  However, the nursing supervisor provided only negative feedback, rarely acknowledged me when I was in the office, appeared to have a poor attitude, despite being a supervisor, was critical of my charting, despite my attention to detail, always seemed hesitant when I asked to give her my concerns or feedback, never complimented me on any of my work, and would often question why I would do something, some of those things I had learned in nursing school, and I knew were expectations of the Board of Nursing.  Most of my co-workers were kind, caring, and compassionate and very hardworking in order to provide the necessary patient and family care.  They were willing to answer my questions when I was unsure of how to handle a specific situation, and many of them were very complimentary of me.The hardest part of the job was working night shifts and being at home waiting for pages so I had to stay awake, which was difficult.  Although it was difficult to attend a death the most enjoyable part of my job was providing compassionate and comfort to the patient and family and then to the family when the patient passed away.

Hospice has decided to expand and new management arrived.   These seem to be inexperienced  managers who have no idea how to manage staff and who have no understanding of what each discipline does on a day to day basis. They manage by bullying their way around the staff.  Experienced staff  see they are being pushed out by new management.   No one knows day to day what will be next, and sadly, people have physical illnesses from the stress,  and even nightmares and anxiety episodes.

The orientation process is very lacking, as new staff are now precepting new staff.  This would have been unheard of a year ago. This is especially troubling because there is no real education department. The new nurse will be trained by this new nurse with no true oversight from a manager. 

 Staff are told how things will be, no questions asked, and if you do question why, you can expect to either be completely ignored by said managers, or counseled for being disrespectful and labeled negative. There is no type of shared governance,  but there IS a punitive environment which keeps staff from speaking up for fear of retribution or being targeted  by the bullying management . No respect for the hard working hospice staff who have decades of experience.  
Gone are the days of staff having a good work life balance ( which the CEO  *says* is important in the agency ) and job security. 

Experienced staff continue to leave and the patients and families can expect to not have the experience that they deserve at  the most difficult time of their lives.  And senior management does nothing to try and retain these dedicated, experienced, and once loyal staff. 
What happened to Hospice of the Bluegrass? What a loss.

Unfortunately, the management throughout the last 20 years has been lacking. Tenured and very experienced loyal employees get pushed out the door and replaced with inexperienced staff. This has been the picture for years. Hard-working, excellent staff are “pushed” for one reason or another out after years of dedication, usually some ridiculous infraction is used as a reason. This has not happened to me but I have watched it happen over and over. Management has no clue how to perform any job of the line staff who are the ones who provide the excellent patient care and drive donations. It is really unbelievable why the board has never looked into WHY there is such a high rate of turnover and now, can’t fill positions. Monies are used for top heavy admin, doctors, rebranding, opening new units they can’t staff, instead of investing in their employees. It’s NO SUPRISE that management NEVER turns over but are the recipients of high salaries, and  bad behavior. Hospice is not what it used to be. Now VERY top heavy with doctors, management  not employees who are there to serve terminally ill patients. The most UNcompassionate organization towards staff. If you have the desire to work with the terminally ill, look elsewhere. Over the last 5 years, employees have left in droves . I do believe the word is now out about the hostile work environment, lack of support and compassion for employees as well as seemingly getting rid of long term staff near retiring. The organization has no problem paying for repeated  unnecessary trips for a doctor  and wine for board member meetings. Do you know where your
Donations are? Steer clear.

I love taking care of patients when they need it most; however it is very frustrating when you are unable to, because of poor management causing so many lack of resources. We were continually  told to lie to families about staffing, and about the availability of our physicians and practitioners. So very often the physicians/practitioners would never see the patients. The most frustrating part of attempting to provide care was the complete lack of respect management had for the patients by allowing untrained staff to provide care. Hospice and end of life care is a specialty, yet this organization does not treat it as such. They believe if you can pass medications you can provide care and education to humans when they are the most vulnerable. This trait continues as evidence by the numerous agency RNs, and CNAs. It was common to get report from the previous shift consisting of a temp/travel nurse, a per diem/agency nurse and an agency CNA. 
The most experienced nurses have left, many not by choice. 
The lack of consistency with safe staffing goes in hand with the lack of consistency with providers having little confidence in the staff. Their orders were written like it has a step down unit and not comfort based/palliative unit because they were unsure if their staff was trained to do an assessment correctly for proper dosing.
Comfort was not placed as a priority. 3 managers, 11 RNs, 7 CNAs, 4 travel RNs (who broke there contract to leave early) left in the 14months I was there.

A typical day at Bluegrass Care Navigators is fraught with worry about management targeting you and sending their inexperienced henchmen to humiliate you. I learned from and appreciated this agency for many years. But over the last 18 mos or so it has become a cut throat every man for himself kind of environment. They care more about making money than they do about their overworked, stressed out staff and their suffering patients. 

They have hired dictators for chiefs and directors who do nothing more than throw their weight around to prove who’s most important. If you LOVE patient care and autonomy as a nurse, do NOT work for this company. 

They fabricate the experience their management has and and threaten and bully their staff so they will comply. I was there for many years. I left very disappointed yet thankful to never have to work for that management team again. An obscene number of staff have left the agency and the number continues to grow. 

Under current management I would NEVER work for this agency again.

Hospice has to be one of the most rewarding areas of Healthcare. With the right company,one could easily retire from that area. However, not with this company. Poor management decisions and management burying their heads in the sand to avoid problems has caused an impossible situation for emoyees. There is no comraderie among employees. Instead, employees seek to undermine each other and gossip like teenagers. Rather than supplementing present staff with agency nurses, those few nurses that remain are quickly being driven out. Patient care demands with inappropriate admissions are beyond the ability of staff numbers to manage. And management rewards overwhelmed staff with the cliche pizza. No amount of pizza and lip service can replace need for more staff who work as a team and the need for gossip at the door. Again, that's down to the style of management. 

After working in both of their in patient units, corresponding with multiple home based case managers, RBs, HHAs, Medical Social Workers, Chaplains and therapists I can honestly say that I have met less than 10 employees, who actually provided physical patient care (have worn gloves) in the last 16 months, that were actually happy about their work. Everyone I talk to here is looking for another job elsewhere. It is a mushroom of ill trained management here. 
I truly love taking care of hospice patients and this is one of the largest in the region, their pay isn't bad, their benefits are decent for this area. Yet you see some of the highest turnover in staffing and very evident lack of training in management and staff. This company is about the money.... Not the Care!!! 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 17 salaries reported	$37.67 per hour
Nursing assistant 45 salaries reported	$20.42 per hour
Social worker 12 salaries reported	$73,983 per year
Licensed practical nurse 8 salaries reported	$27.62 per hour
Hospice nurse 29 salaries reported	$76,326 per year

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