registered nurse

licensed practical nurse

surgical technologist

family nurse practitioner

director

Bon Secours Mercy Health

If you are looking to work in a dumpster fire, look no further than working at Mercy Health. I worked as a Registrar for one of the larger departments on campus. This department has 18 doctors to schedule for, along with a call center. I guess it wouldn't be TOO bad of a job if Mercy let this department's doctors not continually accept new patients, as one can imagine, it tends to make scheduling a little bit difficult as there are only a finite number of spots to be scheduled. Because of this, the Registrars take the brunt of the anger from patients when they are trying to schedule an appointment and are told that the next available isn't until October or something crazy like that, even though it's only May.

The workload of the department that I worked in was also unreasonable. If you work the front desk, you also still are expected to help on the phones; both incoming [call center] as well as make outgoing calls [or working on 'the board'] when a customer is not in front of you. This basically means that you are to be working non-stop, and really unable to take a much deserved breather, as most days this department can have up to 120 patients scheduled a day, and it is not unreasonable to expect 7 or more walk in patients per day either wanting to speak with their doctor/drop something off/whatever. Even on those days, it was STILL an expectation to have that headset on and be ready to answer calls - with a smile on your face. As someone who is neurodivergent, I was not aware that this was an expectation when accepting the role. Because of this, I have gone into meltdown/burnout crazy fast.  It is also because of these unreasonable job expectations that this job has a revolving door of employees and is always short staffed. Big surprise. 

To go along with that, this job has many, MANY scheduling rules. Each doctor has different rules in regards to their schedule. There will be a scheduling rule, that will work for everyone except for one doctor. Note that these rules are not documented anywhere, and really can change at any time depending on the day and who you talk to. In the short time that I was in this role, I would hear at least once per day how we as a staff were not to do something, even though I would be told to do it a certain way by someone, but then be told it was wrong. Apparently it is one of those jobs that are to learn by doing, but again, as a neurodivergent individual this has given me the most anxiety out of everything. Right before I gave my notice, I was told that I needed to be 'retrained' as I was still doing things wrong. However, I was never told what specifically I was doing wrong, as I was literally just doing what I was trained to do. It's one of those jobs where you are almost being set up to fail, as no matter how hard you work and give, it still isn't enough and they will find something to criticize you on. 

There are also a ton of metrics that you are being criticized on. Couldn't tell you what those are though because I was never told - much less 'trained' on. Again, it's one of those jobs that you only learn about something once you do it wrong. Especially if you are new and assume that something is common sense. I feel like every decision I would make would be wrong, so then I would doubt EVERYTHING that I did. 

Lunch breaks are also only 30 minutes. 

To note, I made an attempt to transfer out of this specific department; however I was told that because I had just started, that I would be unable to transfer until I was in the role for at least six months. So keep that in mind as well. 

YMMV. I am obviously unsure if ALL departments are like this, and I just got very unlucky getting chosen to work in this department. I have seen other departments and they don't SEEM to be this dysfunctional; however, again, I could be wrong. 

TLDR;
- Lack of communication/unclear expectations 
- Unreasonable expectations/expected to do three jobs at once
- Rules/Processes are not documented [SOPs would be a lifesaver for this role]
- MD's continually accepting new patients [Registration logistics nightmare!]
- Training is by shadowing


Advertised as remote, feels as if we are slowly moving towards working in office work with new management.  This was not the type of job that I was searching that would match up with my home/work life balance.  Looking for flexibility so that as a single parent I can still take care of my responsibilities (Dr. appt, afterschool sports, sick children, etc).  It was my understanding this was a remote position and as long as my 8 hours of work were put in daily, that was permissible.  It was even mentioned I could work from home as my children slept if need be to make sure my 8 hours were completed.

Little by little new management complained about these perks our office had until I became fearful to even ask for time off to meet my children’s medical needs or even celebrate school accomplishments.  Which, I find ironic working for a Mercy medical facility and is about helping others.

The most enjoyable part of my day was working remote, which was slowly taken away.  Working in pajamas and your own music of choice in the background, what a joy!  

I also enjoyed the laughter between my co-workers on the occasions we did see each other.  Prior, we tried having a monthly meeting in person over lunch to help maintain employee connections while being remote.  Besides the monthly in person meeting, we held Zoom meetings which we would also have our moments of laughter between items of discussions.  

The hardest part of the job was the lack of organization and training.  I would have thought a large company like Mercy would have handed me a an official training manual specific to my job related duties.  Instead as a new employee I was told to search the public computer drive for “SOP” notes to teach me.  How is a new employee supposed to even know which notes they need?  There were years old documents from former companies still in this folder.  How would a new employee know which information pertains to their job title and which is most relevant?  Lack of direction and training throughout our office.  Multiple people have made this complaint.  How can we excel at our jobs when we weren’t trained properly from day 1?  

I also want to mention the overall environment of our office seemed to be one of gossip and cattiness.  This is a major draw back.  I simply want to do my job and live my life once work was completed for the day.  I have been told by multiple people to watch “my back”.  We are all middle age, or older, women.  How is this still a school yard playground?  Being adults, no one wanted to be the one to call out specific names especially when one person involved is a higher up.  Favoritism is definitely shown and if you’re not a part of that group, you will know it as you witness others get by with items you are ridiculed for.

I hear Mercy is a great company to work for and perhaps I just haven’t found the right department for me.  Once you are a Mercy employee it is easier to move to other jobs within their facilities.  That is a positive.  

Mercy Health, previously Humility of Mary Heath Partners, offered a welcoming environment, and provided adequate training, and support for new graduate RNs. They offer flexible scheduling mostly 12 hour shifts for bedside RNs. Provided appropriate work life balance with generous PTO/Vacation. They are Magnet recognized, and encourage RNs to have or obtain a BSN. The magnet program encourages RNs to be on magnet committees and be involved in policy and procedure and research among other domains. Therefore, giving the RN a voice in overall direction, and leadership of the hospital. While employed at Mercy Health they encouraged lifelong learning, and those wishing to further and obtained further education and training, and offered generous tuition reimbursement, and scholarships through their foundation, to offset educational costs in obtaining a BSN, MSN, or DNP. Leadership/Administration and unit management was approachable, and encouraged the RNs to share feedback and input. Mercy Health also developed a New Grad RN nurse residency program, while I was not apart of the program, as it was started later, the program provides great benefits for new nurses, as the program serves to support, guide and mentor the new graduate nurse, and provide them with the resources, and support needed to be successful in their nursing role. Pay was also competitive, and above average when compared to other local hospitals in the Youngstown, Ohio area. Providing generous incentive and overtime premium pay to nurses who may want to work extra shifts when overall hospital operational needs warrant a need for additional staff, or shift coverage. Overall, Mercy Health was a great place to work, and I would go back if ever the opportunity arose, as they continue to hire, and employ advanced practice nurses for staffing in their hospitals, and 
 outpatient clinics, and offices that they continue to acquire as they grow, and expand across Ohio, in the communities they serve. 

Director plays favorites with two or three people leaders and doesn't care about others. It's like watching the popular kids at school run the school while everyone else is pushed around by them. The "popular kids" are arrogant, they make jokes about others, put down people at other locations, tease people's hard work, insult them behind their backs, doing so loudly and laughing about it. Sometimes even in public for patients and staff to hear. I've heard stuff said about one guy who worked for the hospital for almost nine years that almost made me cry when I heard it because of how awful these people could be when they claim to be serving.

Company only seems to care about money, not patients or employees. All services are slowly turning into contract services, eventually the only hospital employees left will be administration making hundreds of thousands or even millions while everyone else is contract staff that are scraping by on pennies and lousy benefits because they don't care about people. 

Pay is nowhere near close to the skyrocketing cost of living, bonuses were eliminated for anyone ranked below a Director, jobs being eliminated and leaders who claimed to always be on their side shoved them out the door without a second thought. Costs of benefits keep going up taking what little you get from yearly raises. Add inflation to that and you're getting a yearly pay cut.

Used to love the job but have watched it go from a mission-driven ministry to a money-driven corporation who only cares about tax breaks and views their patients and hardworking staff as a line item on an Excel spreadsheet while directors play favorites with some and treat others like stray animals. 

I have worked in behavioral health for Mercy for over a year. At the beginning of the pandemic, management was taking proper precautions to keep everyone safe, along with maintaining complete transparency with covid positive patients and outbreaks in our facility. Management was very flexible at the beginning of the pandemic and paid leave was offered for employees effected by the pandemic. Resources were ample and employees felt supported. Fast forward to now, our management has become less transparent about outbreaks and alerting employees about exposures. We do not have proper PPE or N95 masks to interact with our patient populatuon. We were told to still come to work if we were sent a letter of "exposure notice" - meaning one of our patients we were treating tested positive (who we thought was negative) and we did not have PPE on during the interaction with said patient. (besides a standard medical mask). Management was alerted of the exposure and positive COVID test of our patient and waited *3 days* to alert the affected staff. This complete lack of transparency is negligent. We no longer have paid COVID leave and we face backlash from unit management if we call in sick. Also, they have implemented new policies that allow employees of the behavioral center to be sent down to medical and ICU. Other units in the hospital are incredibly short staffed - which has led them to take approximately half of our staff. This means if you are hired in behavioral health, you will not be spending your shifts in the behavioral health units. More than 50% of my shifts the last 2 months have been spent in medical or ICU. 

A typical day at work
A typical day for me was arriving early, ready to learn, and committed to completing what was asked of me. I made sure to stay consistent and dependable in everything I did.

What I believe I learned
I learned how to recognize red flags in a workplace and the importance of speaking up against disrespectful or unprofessional behavior, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.

Management
Management avoided direct conversations and instead chose unprofessional ways of handling issues. Concerns about inappropriate or disrespectful behavior were excused or ignored, which speaks volumes about the lack of accountability.

Workplace culture
The workplace culture was unprofessional and often hostile — filled with gossip about former employees, inappropriate conversations, and leadership that relied on intimidation rather than respect. The fact that rude and hostile behavior was excused shows the culture was toxic from the top down.

The hardest part of the job
The hardest part was witnessing and dealing with mean-spirited, loud, and overbearing behavior, while knowing that calling it out would make me a target. Staying in an environment that excused bullying and disrespect was the most difficult aspect.

The most enjoyable part of the job
The most enjoyable part was proving to myself that I stayed professional, committed, and true to who I am. I know I gave my best, and I take pride in the fact that I never compromised my integrity in a workplace that often lacked it.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Benefits and bonus pay. Working three 12-hour shifts in a work environment that makes me fear for myself and my patients is worth it since the benefits were good plus the overtime bonus pay. Yet, they decreased that bonus pay over the last year tremendously which makes it not work picking up an extra shift to exist in an unsafe environment.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Management, communication with other employees, cleanliness, and patients not receiving proper care from other staff (things that are out of my capacity). My onboarding and training for my position was terrible. Plus, I frequently worked with people who disregarded safety protocols and complained about new rules in place to try.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Lacking. Management acted like they were in high school. Constantly saying things while others weren't around. Didn't answer questions. Didn't care about things unless they directed them at them. The department I worked for was dangerous on the best of days.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Minimal communication. Directed to patients with minimal information about needs and concerns. Told "that is not my patient" when asking for assistance. When bringing up a concern once, I had a patient be ignored due to not telling the "correct" nurse to assist them while they were throwing up. They also did not direct me to the correct nurse. The sense of community and care for employees is highly lacking.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Not being micromanaged. I was a float and a trainer. The work load is incredibly busy and the outreach dept kept getting more and more jobs that shouldn't have been giving to our dept.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The work load was terrible. Extremely busy!! Easy to make mistakes due to overwhelming volume. Our Leads, supervisor, and manager weren't very helpful. Mostly negative and NEVER EVER stood up for our dept.  Pay is lower than most and raises are under 20 cents. Turnover was very high!

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Our title was called Lab Assistant. We drew blood and processed and prepped for the vials for the main lab. 
The patient flow was AWFUL. We were always 15 to 20 people under staffed. No one stayed very long bc of the low pay and incredible work flow. If a patient complained no matter if they were lying no management had our backs. There was drama all the time. Not everyone worked well and they were lazy.  Just research other areas for employment before accepting.  Negotiate your hourly rate. 
The insurance was real expensive and covered less and less each year.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
The good part about working in the outreach dept is you walked in to a overflowing room and b4 u knew it was time to leave.

Typical work day... busy, busy, busy. Being the only hospital and one of the few Outpatient Labs in town, people had no choice but to come to Mercy Health.  Training on their software was minimal at best. It was not too hard for me because I learn quickly, but if you don't you will struggle.  Management is laid back and will take into consideration your family obligations.  Calling off on a weekend was forbidden, but the slackers always seemed to get away with it.  The dedicated workers received occasional kudos in the form of points in a gift catalog system. You are forced to join a union and pay, but they are difficult to get help from. If you like helping sick people this is great.  The most difficult part of the job was having to use an Interpreter system to understand the throngs of immigrants that have been thrust into our city since we have been deemed a sanctuary city. Registration took three times as long waiting for translation, which kills your KPI.  Lastly, if you take a sick day, it comes out of your PTO, they give ZERO sick days. A hospital that has no paid sick days. You get demerits for calling off sick even if you do it 4 hours before your shift and have a doctor's note.

I worked as a service excellence specialist in mason, OH and it was the worst job ever. The patients that call in can never be helped because mercy is so behind with faxes and mail. It seemed like management was more worried about how many calls were received in a day over more then actually helping. Patients, attorney's, or whoever is requesting information would wait months and months before they ever received what they made a request for.  I was hired to work 8 to 4:30 but after a month my hours changed, the training is HORRIBLE, the staff isn't helpful at all with helping new employees, it's like you go to training for a week then get on the phones alone the following week. I received a bill for a drug test and vaccines that I had to get prior to employment that wasn't suppose to be my responsibility. My child was added to insurance and I was charged for it when he wasn't suppose to be on my insurance. When I received my final pay check they went back and took money from my bank account without a warning and over drew my account. This company is horrible and I wouldn't recommend working there. The only good thing about the job is the pay.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 9 salaries reported	$30.56 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 20 salaries reported	$25.31 per hour
Surgical technologist 19 salaries reported	$28.15 per hour
Family nurse practitioner 10 salaries reported	$68.68 per hour
Director 3 salaries reported	$158,333 per year

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