registered nurse

physician assistant

primary care physician

nurse practitioner

urgent care physician

Hartford HealthCare

A typical day at work, from start to finish, you are moving. Whether I am in the kitchen or working in the office, there are tasks and responsibilities that will ensure a productive work environment. Everyone's job is interdependent, so if one person is late, absent, or careless it affects every other person's productivity. Due to this I have learned that not coming in, unless it is under the most dire of circumstances, is not an option. In order for my coworkers and I to have an efficient work day we must all be present and take it upon ourselves to ensure that even the most minute details of our individual responsibilities are handled with care. 

Working in healthcare every aspect of what we do is centered around patient satisfaction and customer service.In addition to being consistent in attendance, I have learned to be extremely patient. Since our clients are elderly and/or sick, when we interact with them we also have to take into account their health issues attributed to their age. Not to mention ensuring that we maintain a personable and compassionate yet professional demeanor. 

What I have noticed of the management at Jefferson House is that they do take great pains to try and be accommodating. Both to clients and staff.The only drawback to that, though I can only speak for my department, is that at times their personal approach to that philosophy can inadvertently end up causing issues for other staff and by extension the client. Which brings me to the most difficult part of my job.

No matter how fantastic one employee is, diligence and responsibility is not contagious. When you train a new hire or even when you work alongside a long time coworker, you can't force them to care about their work and their responsibility to their peers as much as you do. Not all of my coworkers take their work responsibilities, or the clients needs seriously. And at times management hasn't been particularly swift in response to this lack of professionalism which can definitely have an affect on morale, as well as productivity and time management. As of late their efforts have definitely improved, but their are still some weak points. However, the majority of my coworkers have proven themselves to be very dependable, even godsends when it comes to being short-staffed or dealing with particularly difficult workloads.Not to mention you definitely learn how to deal in high pressure situations, and how to find fast and effective solutions.

By far the most enjoyable part of my job are the residents. A lot of the time the staff are the only faces some of our clients see. As time goes on, you start to become more familiar with them. Their likes and dislikes, when the patient is have a particularly difficult day, and even their sense of humor. That in turn causes you to care more. To want to do a better job. I've definitely had my difficult days, and sometimes a compliment from a patient or even sometimes a coworker has lessened that stress or frustration. You learn that while its not always made apparent that your hard work is appreciated or noticed, its definitely is.

Typical Day at Work:

There is no typical day in operating Room, because each and every day is new and exciting. I can be precepting a new tech student, nurse or medical student or even a resident during one case, or all day, doing GYN, to Ortho, ENT or Ophthalmology. The day could be calm or chaotic, due to an emergency making each day different.

What have I learned:

In my years as a Certified Surgical Technologist, I have learned to precept all levels of students. From the very new technology student on their first day of clinical, to the resident physician starting a brand new service in ENT or Ophthalmology. I have learned to work with all kinds of people with different backgrounds, increasing my skills in patient and awareness of others need. I have learned good communication skills with all of my colleagues, from the housekeeping staff to the anesthesiologist and surgeons. My skills as a certified technologist have improved over the years as I've increased my own knowledge and performance of the surgical procedures I partake in on a daily basis, and continue to learn through inservices the hospital provides, on line learning courses, and continuing education classes I take to maintain my certification.

Management:

Our unit is run by a nurse supervisor, and above her, a director who oversees the entire Operating room facility and four departments relating to the operating room. They work closely to and we report directly to our nurse supervisor.

Hardest part of the job:

It is most difficult to have to tell a surgeon he or she has to wait for an instrument. Our facility was built over 25 years ago, they then added a new tower which housed the main operating room as well as the sterile processing department (SPD). This area is quite a distance away from our unit, so if an instrument or instrument set becomes contaminated, we have to call SPD to get us another item, and this is usually an urgent matter. This takes a person called a 'runner' to answer the phone, locate the item or instrument set, assure it is sterile, and run it up to us. This is not only frustrating for us but for everyone involved and the hardest part of my job.

Most Enjoyable part of the day:

I love what I do most importantly. I feel what I do, assisting in surgical procedures, to help patients get better is wonderful, and fulfilling job, and that is what is the most enjoyable part of my job.

Processed endless claims, monotonous repetitive Boring work.  Learned how to process Medicaid & Medicare claims.  You pretty much manipulated the claims to get paid.  It seemed unethical in a way like HHC was changing the bills in order to receive payments.  But that is what they trained us to do. 

Management is rarely available and they could not care less to go out of their way to assist or help you.  The open door policy they claim to have is entirely absent because management is rarely available.  They are either in meetings or not in the office off on PTO or working from home.  However the general team members don't have the option to work from home.  They want you to put together a business model on how and why you should be able to work from home, complete waste of time energy and effort.  They wonder why they are so far behind on billing because they create unnecessary work projects that can easily be approved. 

Upper management is a joke, and management blames them all to often for delays or when they themselves drop the ball on work they are supposed to to or answers they are supposed to seek themselves.  

Work place culture and the moral is pitiful.  It is a group of 86 people and the air and environment is toxic.  Employees are stressed out and miserable.  Your work is never appreciated and when you complete something or do well they what to know how much more you can do.  

Hardest part of the job is lack of communication between departments and the left not knowing what the right is doing.  And the lack of proper training the system they use, Epic is awful.  Also never feeling accomplished because claims drop daily weekly and monthly so you might have 15,000 claims in your queue and in a day you process 100-200 the next day you come in to work there are 15,500 meaning 700 more claims just dropped into your queue.  So you feel so unaccomplished and defeated at the end of each day.  

Most enjoyable part of the job ummmm nothing really comes to mind.  You can set your own hours between 6AM-6PM as long as you put in an 8.5 hour day. 

The building in Farmington, CT also has a laundry list of issues: problems with the HVAC system so no heat in the winter and not a/c in the summer on multiple occasions.  There is a mice problem in the building and also leaks when it rains.  

Overall a really disheartening experience.  I say avoid it all together.

The hiring process was tedious they ignore prospective employees. The position I was hired for was 20 hours a week with benefits at an out patient setting. I was given a 30 hour position after working through a year as being a fill- in. The program director at the time took me out of my schedule hours running an evening IOP. To fill in for full time therapists days. So they could take their 5 week vacations over the summer. The employment at Natchaug is censes driven if you don't have the client numbers they will eliminate  your position. I had to join a union the AFT which is only a union in name an only interested in   helping therapists that had been there for a long time. The union leadership  nepotism is obvious I worked for Natchaug for 4 years 3 months.  My former  program director stepped down to take a full time position as a lead therapist at the main hospital. Natchaug filled all the full time therapist positions open with program directors that resigned their positions. Because of Hartford Health Care combined over 9 behavioral health programs around the state and laid off 179 managers and program directors once the process was started 2 years ago at this time I was in line to get a full time primary  therapist position which I earned after being employed for 2 years. I was filled by a program director that had no clinical experience at all only as an administrator of one of the Joshua Centers but employed for 14 years. I was turned down for the position a few days before I was due to start it.  That was to start of my demise, the al work load increased 30 % and my work environment got increasing hostel with a young program director only interest was pleasing the corporate. I burned out after 1.5 years working under these working conditions. I did not go quietly the union did not have any shop stewards until the last 6 months in employ and their only interest was protecting the interest of the status quo.

Don't get me wrong, there are many wonderful, dedicated people that work here, but the Lean Office is run by mean-spirited people that really don't care about anything except how things look - it's all a show. The culture is one where employees are encouraged to talk about their co-workers during "coaching" sessions. No one can be trusted, and the culture is one of fear. It's a horrible feeling when your first one on one with the head of the department has nothing to do with you, and you're being asked if someone else has done or said something wrong.  The work is not level-loaded, and capacity is not taken into consideration when goals are set. Favorable assignments are given to current favorites, so many become sycophants in order to survive while trying to get out. Out of all the Lean Office locations, Hartford and Newington are reportedly the worst, with the East and Central regions being better, but there are so many lean office meetings that it's impossible to avoid the brutal politics. These endless, humiliating meetings are also not figured into capacity.  HR and Executive leadership is aware of the problems, and there is a constant stream of people leaving this team, but they've invested a lot into this program, and an artful storyteller can go a long time before the house of cards collapses in on itself. During the interview process, you will get all the right answers, so pay attention to body language, and who isn't saying much. Ask what location you are interviewing for, ask where your workgroups are located, training and advancement - and make your decision from there.  If you can, look for positions in Learning and Development or Project Management - the leadership in these areas is beyond amazing, and it's real!

Nice place to work. People are friendly and helpful and good to new employees.  Management not always approachable or available.  Regular audits and complaints by leadership, but staff will counter act that with e-mails to managers and "ALL staff" about times of great team work and collaboration. Good team building atmosphere and basically shifts are assigned and maintained by an assigned "resource therapist." Department meetings are held regularly to keep you up to date on progress and goals among the department and the hospital by Leadership. Each day you come into work you could be placed on a different floor. You could have any type of patient, surgical to cardiac and medical. Some floors are brand spanking new, including all lobbies and the ER entrance and others may have the same sinks and TV's from 30 years ago.  You typically will have to be on your toes at every second.  Workloads can go from slow to hay wire in a few seconds. The hardest part of the job is probably that some of the equipment or policies you have been trained to use will not be in use for a long period of time and then pop up again. Also, not all floors are created equally and there are different codes for every door you open and medication you take out.  Sometimes hard to get a good working computer, yet the need is to real time chart.  Over all an enjoyable place to work, your efforts can be rewarding to such sick patients that you're very well supported to help.

My time at hartford healthcare has been a mixed experience. On one hand, the company brings together an incredible team of talented and supportive individuals, creating a positive and collaborative work environment. However, the compensation leaves much to be desired.

Pros:

	1.	Work Culture: The company has cultivated a strong sense of community and teamwork. Colleagues are friendly, approachable, and always willing to help each other out. This makes for a pleasant daily work environment where you feel supported.
	2.	Management: The leadership team is generally approachable and values employee input. They foster an open-door policy, which encourages honest communication and transparency.
	3.	Team Dynamics: One of the standout aspects of working here is the quality of the people. The teams are filled with motivated, skilled, and genuinely good people who are committed to doing their best work.
	4.	Learning Opportunities: The company offers various opportunities for learning and development, including workshops, seminars, and mentorship programs. This is a great place to grow your skill set and gain valuable experience.

Cons:

	1.	Compensation: Unfortunately, the pay is not competitive compared to industry standards. While the work environment and team are fantastic, the low pay can be a significant drawback, especially if you’re looking for long-term financial growth.
	2.	Benefits: While the benefits package is decent, it doesn’t fully make up for the low salary. There are other companies in the industry that offer better compensation and benefits packages.
	3.	Career Progression: While there are opportunities for professional development, the career progression can be slow, particularly in terms of salary increases and promotions.


The actual job is amazing but so much extra work that you don’t get compensated for. Computers frequently have issues and charting system has too many places to document that aren’t even reviewed. High turn over rate because of burn out, then other clinicians expected to take on more patients or territory with no incentive. Management is great but upper leadership only cares about money. Leadership response to concerns about rising gas prices was to refer to one time employee bill pay assistance rather than a long term solution. Wellness programs galore that preach the importance of “work life balance” but salaried clinicians often document into the evening, if concerns are brought up clinicians are given advice on time management rather than decreasing the work load. Full time case managers have a productivity of 6 units per day, revisits are one unit, recertification is 2 and admission and readmissions are 3. Can get additional reimbursement with additional units and bonuses to pick up admissions can be generous but upper leadership tends  to find ways to avoid paying bonuses. Benefits get worse and worse, raises were averaging 2% yearly and have not at all kept up with inflation. So much room for improvement but focus of upper leadership is to generate as much revenue as possible. Can only renegotiate pay when switching positions.

I worked at the Institute of Living as an RN in adult inpatient psychiatry for 2.5 years. Nurse to patient ratio is 1:6-8 and charge nurse always has full patient assignment. Main focus was medication therapy and milieu management. Not much time to provide 1:1 talk therapy to patients. Be prepared to physically restrain individuals and deal with verbal abuse from patients. I had some amazing coworkers but also some very unprofessional coworkers specifically some of the psych techs who were lazy and rude, seems like it is basically impossible to be fired from this place, so I think management should be more picky about who they hire but at the same time I know they are just trying to fill the jobs. Overall had a good experience, there is always support from coworkers and administrators when you need help, I never felt alone or unprepared to deal with acute situations. There are very good company policies in place to keep patients safe and they are all found in one place Policy Tech. After that I worked in Hartford Hospital on a Med-Surg unit for about 5 months now, nurse patient ratio is 1:5-6, very difficult to provide adequate care with this ratio honestly. The patients are just too acute to get everything done in the day. But again, support from coworkers and administration is strong, I don’t feel alone ever. But I also hardly ever have time to step out for a 30 minute lunch during my 12 hour shift. On Med-Surg, we are expected to work every other weekend and rotate to nights for a week every 6 weeks. My schedule is totally unpredictable which sucks. Currently looking to change jobs. Not sure where to go, seems like staffing is an issue everywhere. 

For me, a typical day at work would include scheduling meetings with higher level executives and the Chief of Medicine, managing the expenses and budget, preparing reports, inputting resident and attending schedules into our on-call directory, requisitioning/ordering supplies through PeopleSoft, approving time cards, physician verification letters and academic promotion paperwork for UConn Health Center.
I have learned a great deal about the healthcare system and it's ins and outs; how to work together as a team for the benefit of the patient and their family members.  I have also learned a great deal about myself and what I can handle and have improved my abilities to interact with people from all walks of life.
The Corporation tends to be a bit top-heavy; however, I believe they have the best interests of their patients and employees at heart.  They provide excellent and competitive salaries and benefits.  They recognize that it takes all employees to run the facility and rely on us to do our best every day.
It's such a diverse culture with employees and patients from all backgrounds.  The employees and contractors are friendly and will to lend a hand.  It is the most diverse employer I have worked for.
The hardest part of the job is knowing information that is privy to the executives but not to the rest of the staff.  Knowing that there might be lay-offs or someone might be terminated.  Seeing anyone let go from a company is always hard.
I most enjoy the people I work with...from the physicians right down to the environmental services staff.  They all make coming to work worth it and enjoyable!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 8 salaries reported	$47.38 per hour
Physician assistant 5 salaries reported	$59,700 per year
Primary care physician 18 salaries reported	$289,583 per year
Nurse practitioner 1 salary reported	$83.63 per hour
Urgent care physician 3 salaries reported	$335,000 per year

Working at Hartford HealthCare: Company Overview and Reviews

Hartford HealthCare

Hartford HealthCare Ratings

Popular jobs at Hartford HealthCare

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected