registered nurse

licensed vocational nurse

customer service representative

medical assistant

physician

Kaiser Permanente

A typical 8 hour day at work at KP would usually turn into 9-10, sometimes 11-12, hours, primarily to complete EMR documentation, which KP started in 1995. We were required to see patients every 20 minutes, which is about the industry norm (every 15-20 minutes), but the doctors are provided with personal medical assistants and/or LPN's, while the NPs were made to wait for their available time in between to have our patients vitals taken, and roomed for us. So, NPs consistently ran behind and had to deal with the wrath of waiting patients, as the MAs and LPNs refused to inform the patients. 
I learned a lot during my 35 years as an NP; I said I always learned something new every day. Constantly changing evidence based medical information, as well as physicians providing us with their most current training info contributed to my daily education. The dichotomy between providing MDs vs NPs the most current info, treatment, diagnostic testing was very difficult - one of the most important being NPs trying to learn how to measure cervical length and dilation in pregnant women, using ultrasound. MDs were trained in this - NPs were not, but were expected to either magically know it, or wait, along with the patient, for an MD to find time between their own patients, to perform this for us. When I approached my nursing supervisor about learning this, she rejected my/our request, stated it was not standard of care (it WAS), and tried to label me as a trouble maker. We NPs/CNMs finally created our own scope of practice continuing education team to teach this and other skills - drawing from our specialists, as well as from among our peers. That particular nursing supervisor had to be a facilitator (allotting time and reserving conference venues), and eventually claimed the success for the group. She decided how to allocate the prize money our group received for our innovation. 
Dealing with the MA's and LPN's was the most difficult part of the job; both were in a different union from the NPs. Their union was much stronger, they received better representation and benefits, and allowed gossiping, infighting and even laziness and competition for DOCTORS' attention to rule their workdays. I could barely get them to stock my exam rooms - or even correctly stock them - let alone assist me with medical procedures or patient emergencies in the exam rooms. Yet, if we NPs asked them to just do their jobs, as assigned and within their job description, we were pulled into union rep meetings and informed we were asking too much. 
The most enjoyable part of the job were the patients and their lives and trying to assist them with their health care needs. However, KP was developed as a non-profit preventive care HMO. Patient-customers either were not aware of this or chose to ignore it. Healthcare has changed so much since I started as an RN in 1977, and especially since the ACA changes in 2014. Patients became angry at being charged for unnecessary care, tests, treatments they requested, as well as demanding treatments for which personal behavioral changes are the most effective treatments. (eg, dietary and exercise changes for weight loss). While NPs are tasked with educating patients on evidence based medicine, we got NO MORE TIME with patients than MDs did. Yet, patients would complain if we were running behind, then add on many health problems for which they were not scheduled, while they accorded the MDs the highest regard and allowed for them to be behind. 
While the NPs saw most of the patients in the office - the doctors had to spend time in surgery, on-call, and in meetings - we were usually not consulted as to the EMR software and note documentation updates. We were the minute by minute users of the EMR, and were involved in every single patients' notes that we touched, updating, "cleaning" up, organizing, taking family and personal histories, yet, we were chastised for taking the time - mostly overtime - to making certain that patients' EMRs were correct. We were rarely consulted as to what we thought would help in improving EMR documentation, even when our ideas were eventually adopted.
Collegiality among NPs was mostly excellent. There was occasional lack of collegiality among department MDs and NPs. We experienced times of being accused of not seeing our share of patients or declining to see patients way beyond the scope of our care. While we, as NPs, agreed to "share" complicated and/or difficult patients, many times the MD with whom we were sharing the patient's care was not in the office - & the other MDs stated they were not the coordinating MD - or too busy, or told us to consult a specialist. Usually, this did not benefit the patient. It was always claimed that in our particular specialty department, "teams" of MAs, LPNs, RNs, NPs, and MDs. could not be formed, as the personnel in the office varied on a daily basis. 
My experience with management seemed to vary on a cycle, like the stock market. There were times of micromanagement and huge company financial loss with too many managers at too many levels, then times of hands-off approach when we needed management and/or were making money to re-invest, as a nonprofit. NPs were never given the opportunity to be company shareholders, while MDs were; again, we provided most of the in-office patient care. 
While NPs did gain better benefits for continuing education and tuition reimbursement, we lost in health care coverage benefits in union contracts. It was a strong point that NPs could attend conferences for continuing education which was required for our license re-certifications. There was also a scholarship for which we could compete and apply to advance our education. I was awarded one of these for complete tuition coverage and one day off a week to obtain my Masters in Nursing. 
I think Kaiser Permanente has a great mission and goal of preventive health care; it is the American public/layperson who, in general, fails to currently see that their own personal health is usually affected by behavioral choices - not always, but much of the time.

I got hired in early 2023 when Kaiser was struggling to hiring and obtain Security Officers. I did a virtual panel interview. 

Pros:
Security is unionized with very good benefits if you manage to stay for a few years, lifetime benefits after several years of service. 

Optional open shift bids that can be picked up as 1.5x or 2.0x your base pay (without requiring overtime first). If you manage to find a part time position you’ll be able to work full time and pick up an additional 3 days at 1.5x or 2.0x pay without having to go over 40 hours a week.

Really good healthcare benefits and supplemental insurance. If you have family with health problems, Kaiser insurance is some of the best in the Portland Metro. 

Job security is high if you get past probation and welcomed into the union. You pass probation and you’ll be nearly “un-firable”.   

The job itself is very easy and tasks are menial. I came from other healthcare organizations and Kaiser is the most laid back security in the Metro. 99% of the time just consisted of rotating around posts and staying awake, talking with each other or standing around being told by Nurses on what they want us to do.

There isn’t any inpatient psychiatric care, it’s all voluntary. I don’t even count the ED psych because most of the patients where elderly. (During my year and a half I only had to deal with a handful of aggressive patients in the ED. Comparable to nearly daily interaction at other healthcare organizations)

Uniforms are all modern, almost following other healthcare organizations. 

Kaiser leverages technology over everything else, which was a breeze. I almost never had to actually use keys. If I did it was for vehicles. 

Cons:

Policies are based off of the contracted security providers for the rest of the County. Oregon and Hawaii are the only ones with in-house, direct Kaiser employees. This meant policies were hard to find or non-existent. Most of it was word-of-mouth policies and training. 

Security provides a Customer service role over a proactive and efficient security department. You are essentially tasked with driving around or sitting at a desk. A mainly visible deterrent without confronting. Coming from another organization, security was brought in as an effective and positive measure to insuring safety for everyone involved. It was pretty much a 180 when I got to Kaiser. Nurses didn’t care about input and didn’t show respect at the most basic level. 

The pay is locked into a union contract, meaning there’s no chance of getting pay increases. Kaiser is now the lowest paying hospital security jobs in the metro area as of this posting. The contract isn’t set to be renegotiated until 2025. 

Shifts are 8 hour (40 hours a week) positions scheduled for Day, Eve and Nights. There are some 12 hour shifts (extremely hard to get). (Every other healthcare organization in the metro is on 12hour compressed shifts for security)

The management has no idea what the left and right hand is doing. The security manager is brand new to her position and has no idea on how day-to-day operations are. The training manager quit the first week I started (dropped his stuff at the computer I was doing online training on, wished me good luck and walked out). Very disorganized. (My first week I started I didn’t have a schedule or was contacted. I had to do the tracking down of people.)

There is minimal to zero training other than shadowing people on the job. They issue handcuffs and OC Spray but do not provide any training in the usage of them.  They don’t even offer deescalation training, which is crazy since all the other metro hospitals give this to staff during their orientation. 

There is a lack of experience and lateral movement. There aren’t challenging situations that gain you experience nor are there options to receive training. (The only upward advancement is working in the security dispatch center). 

The security team in whole is very cliquey and the goal is to do the bare minimum. I was told I should act dumb in situations and play the stupid card. This lead to inexperienced nurses escalating situations with patients; instead of getting input from security on their safety perspectives. 

In the end, other than a stable paycheck, Kaiser doesn’t provide much else. I couldn’t see myself growing or gaining experience and I made the choice to leave.

ONCALL: If you’re looking into an on-call position, it’s NOT traditional ONCALL! You are basically working full time hours and you have to schedule yourself out for multiple weeks into the future. This includes ALL shifts (day, eves, nights)!

Group Health provides a great place to work.  The facility has everything you need to do your job.  Team work is fantastic.  I enjoyed the relationships on the job.  The team is filled with talented and friendly people.  A typical day starts with opening the exam rooms, reviewing the daily schedule, getting the patient's ready to see the doctor.  The day goes by fast and the clinic work is fast paced.  Co-workers will help you if you need the help.  Training is provided for the skills needed to perform the work in the clinic.  It was a wonderful place to work if you fit in with the clinic culture.  During an interview make sure you are allowed to meet the technicians that you may be working with.  Get a feel for the culture and make sure you will fit in and are accepted by the whole team.   
 Management was often seen walking looking down at the floor and not making eye contact.  Management was not seen in clinic often and did not get to know me.  Soon after I was hired two clinic team members told me that they were responsible for causing other new technicians to quit their job.  These two team members also became lead technician and back up lead tech.   I guess they were giving me heads up. I also heard the lead technician state that she was tired of looking at white people, and that I did not look like the typical white people in the PNW.  My hair style was different or something like that, I forget why she told me that.  She made a few comments about white people in general throughout the time I worked there.  Management assigned a doctor that I could work for primarily but without telling me the tasks were taken away from me and  given to other technicians. The technicians would tell me that they were doing that job now, suddenly, without a reason or a head up email.  That gave me the impression that the management did not communicate well to me.  I loved my job and I made a good effort to maintain friendly relationships with everyone.  One day a physician came up to me and told me that a few of the doctors had commented that I have really kept the peace and that I was doing a good job at being friendly.  I was also told that I was a nice person.  I did what I was told and tried to my best and remained as friendly as possible.  The manager eventually took me into a room by myself and told me the other members of the eye team felt worried that I did not fit in with the group.  I told the manager that I did not feel that way.  She asked me, what do you think would make them say that?  I said, maybe they feel guilty about something.  The manager chuckled.  I should have taken that meeting as a clue and I should have looked for another job at that time. After that meeting the manager began to call the Union on me for meetings.  I was told it was not about my technician skills, It was about not following Group Health Procedures.  My manager asked my union rep for meeting notes.  The union rep said she would give them to her later.  I later changed the union rep.  The manager asked the new union rep for the meeting notes but the new rep said no.  The manager responded well I can get them from the other rep.  I called the Union and reported this incident and asked that they would look into the matter.  The union denied that any of the reps would give meeting notes to a manager.    The first union rep told me that her and the manager had spent some time together in the past outside of work. That is why is switched to a new rep. in the first place.  
Overall I love Group Health as a company and I love the facility.  The majority of the co-workers are wonderful, friendly and knowledgeable. It is unfortunate that a few bully's are celebrated and not corrected for how they treat technicians that they want to get rid of for whatever reason.  That was disappointing to find in such a reputable company.  Before I resigned a few other people in the company had told me that I was not the only technician that had been treated unfairly and pushed out the door.  Others had seen that happen before at the Bellevue Group Health Eye Clinic.

Worked in direct patient care in an ambulatory setting. Most peers hard-working & genuinely compassionate for our patients. 

Increasing work loads (ie message management, clean & stock & inventory exam rooms, learn new technology, read emails) to do "in between patients", but overbooked schedules and short staffing rarely allowed "in-between patient" time, so we'd triage the 45 calls and pt messages for the day, choose the most urgent one, and call them back & still got an earful from the patient because we didnt call sooner. Then we'd get an earful from in-office patients because they had excessive wait times due to our schedules were overbooked. Then an earful from the drs because we (as techs) didn't get in quick enough to schedule an appointment for a finished patient because we were working up the next patient for an exam. Then we'd get an earful from management about our low patient satisfaction scores. We'd get an earful about the teams' sick call volume, while in the same breath they'd admit we're shortstaffed and overbooked, and time off requests had to get denied because not enough staff to cover it. When staff was asked for ideas to help reduce sick calls, our responses were ignored (ie full staff and reasonable workoads or even pre-covid workloads would help lower emotional, mental, and physical stress to avoid call outs or a 4 day work week to give an extra work day off in which to do personal dr appts and tasks since PTO was often denied & some staff called out sick because they NEEDED that particular day off & knew not to ask because it would get denied). Instead we were offered "Attendance Bingo" as if we were children without real adult needs. I will never forget my hard working, normally positive coworker, at the end of the day, moaning at the pain in her back and legs after literally being on feet all day, working up SIX extra patients, having pushed an obese patient in a wheelchair who didn't bring 
a caregiver to assist (they're supposed to...it's an AMBULATORY clinic) & this good coworker STILL felt bad because she didn't get to any phone calls, and she had needed help but we were all steuggling with our overbooked schedules so anytime she tried to get help, no one was available, and I offered to stay overtime to clean & close her rooms, & she was so grateful to me and limped her way out of the clinic.  I wish the CEO could have seen THAT. She called out sick the next day, and she is known for her excellent attendance, no one begrudge her the sick day. 

My role paid well, and medical benefits were great, although every bargaining term, we had to fight to keep those.  

The managers were ineffective because they had an inhuman workload, designed to make them fail. 

The physicians were seeing too many patients. Shortcuts were being taken in charting & I imagine that only the best & brightest could keep going at that pace without making too many patient care errors. 

Short staffing in all departments, everything declined in quality & frequency of service: sanitation, ROI, scheduling appointments (as an employee, it took me 8 months to finally score a dental appointment after 1.5 year of being denied due to non-emergency. I had multiple cavities & other issues)

We began to get more building announcements for  Code Gray (violent patient) & Code Black (patient with weapon), and "How to De-Escalate Violence in the Workplace" video trainings which were required to watch in that mythical "in between patients" time, and our everyday schedule now always included several emotionally unstable patients, who took extra time to escalate down.  

Felt like the very upper management didn't care, we were replaceable cogs in the machine. Our actual local management kind of cared, but there was nothing they could do about it, except throw out some platitudes to us at Huddles, and they were struggling in their jobs too and didn't want to admit it lest they got fired by THEIR managment. 


I’ve worked at KP in past and while benefit is excellent, I was floated 100% of the time multiple times in 1 shift in different departments. I tried to apply in other position but never got a call for interview so I was forced to resign. I was rehired years later and my unit today is very nice in terms of how people acts towards each other and how they treat each other. There is a sense of unity among staff even if some gossip and badmouthing behind your back still occur . There is a camaraderie and you could feel that the staff and the union that ties us all into 1 united group is cohesive . KP is a great place to work, the UNAC union and KP managed to successfully work in alliance with each other that makes everyone feel happy and safe in their job. In my observation and experience, it seems like there are more staff who are happy and contented at their job.  People seem fair from managers to staff at least in my unit, and  tries to meet halfway. Union is very active in helping members and you will not feel abandoned in a time of your greatest need.   I am very proud of UNAC and KP as an employee. 

You really want to give the best service to the patients because you want to give back to the organization . You are also being taken cared of very well as an internal staff by KP. I don’t feel being discriminated here because of the diversity at KP.  Each of these diverse culture shares  something new to the pot and you can’t help but feel part of a group that is united and have respect for differences. KP seems to successfully impart feeling that they care as an organization to their individual staff & staff are treated like family . This is one of the few organization I’ve seen where a unit can independently function well without a manager for years , because everybody seems to have the discipline to give the best service even if nobody is watching over their backs. KP also rewards long service so seniority is valued here which raises morale . Some new staff dislikes seniority but if you have given many years of service to KP, and KP is now taking care of you as a result, it’s a win win situation for both because now you don’t have to keep training new staff because you’re retaining your staff until they retire and the staff is well taken cared of even after you retire. 

 It is not uncommon to see minority in the leadership position. There’s is an open door policy with the manager and you could talk to the manager like you’re a part of the family. In my unit, you do feel like it’s a big family more than I have ever felt in other places I’ve worked. Work expectations are clearly communicated so you feel confident doing your job whereas in other hospitals, it is not well communicated , they discriminate as to a few selected favorite people to learn a task and then you don’t get exposure to it and then one day , all of a sudden you will be assigned and is expected to know it like a T, when you don’t have exposure to it at all.

At KP, there are many independent unassigned mentors who will help and instruct you if you are not familiar with something . These are senior nurses who are very much willing to help you and give advice and instruction without having to be told so by the management . People just worked towards a common goal and there’s no greediness at sharing knowledge and skills for the benefit of patients. The management also tries to expose everybody to different skills set without unfair selection or discrimination. 

Everything we do is always with the end goal of giving the best experience to the patients . I don’t dread going to work here everyday so I always work more than my required hours. I even want my children to volunteer here when the right time comes because
I want to give back.

An Employee was recently terminated from this company for an incident taking place more than 9 months ago. This incidenct was never brought to the attention of employee, nor did Direct Mgmt or HR never approached the employee at the time of the incident. The employee was never given opportunity , requested, or allowed his accounts with proper documentation or indicent statements for his file, was never counseled or disciplined for this indicent at or around the time it happened, and most importantly, was unaware or informed of the accounts of the incident or the circumstances in which it was caused. Management and HR calls employee to meeting 9 months after incident. At that time, the employee is told he is being investigated for an "incident" and is not given any disclosure of information or reasons for suspension. Also at this time, employee is never given documentation or is requested for signatures to any documentation, Mgmt/HR does not allow employee to make any statementments, suspends the employee on paid leave for 2 days, and is told to report back for follow-up meeting at predetermined date/time. Upon return to this follow-up meeting, the incident is then discolosed to the employee and he is requested his verbal accounts of the incident. He was never allowed the opportunity to view his file or any documentation regarding the incident at the time of this follow-up meeting. At this time when his accounts are disclosed, a memo was then given to the employee stating his terminating for "misconduct" with references to "generic" KP policies. This employee was terminated by heresay, was never given opportunity to defend himself, the company made no means or had no policies in place to protect him regarding the incident, and most importantly, this investigation was one-sided. And furthermore, this employee was titled as "employee of the month" TWICE in the interim 9 months timeframe from when the incident took place and when he was terminated, and he had NO disciplinary infractions or other complaints brought to his attention, was never counseled, and was never given verbal or written warnings during this interim timeframe... A "model" employee per most standards that never called in sick, arrived on time, never abused overtime, worked and trained students, and provided optimal services. This incident took place for circumstances beyond the employee's control regarding patient services, department staffing, and male to female staff to patient ratios. Dept Managment and Kaiser HR made no attempts to allow this employee to make or document proper accounts of the incident until his termination was determined, terminated him wrongfully, and did not protect or defend his employee rights by making a decision without the employee's knowledge or account of incident. They performed a one-sided investigation and made a decision to terminate this employee without proper disclosure or information at or around the time of the incident, failed to obtain any employee accounts or statements before their decision was made to terminate,failed to present documentation or allow him to view his file prior to termination, and failed to have proper policies in place to protect his rights. Termination is being contested as wrongful for a poorly-executed and one-sided investigation, inproper incident documentation and disclosure, wrongful termination 9 months after incident occured with less than 2 days investigation prior to employee termination, and character defamation of the employee.

Never miss a day in the first 91 days, and you’re GOLDEN! Kaiser can terminate a new hire within the first 90 days. After that, a unionized employee can do almost anything and not be terminated. It’s awesome. Mediocrity at its best.

Kaiser has GREAT pay and benefits. ‘Incidental’ overtime is a way to fill up your gas tank on a daily basis. Taking long breaks, no problem. Just make sure you clock in/out from the unit. Forgot to clock in or just didn’t want to, write it in the Time Exception Log book in order to circumvent management rules. Take a nap in an empty patient room, a must. Take trips to chat with coworkers on another unit, while on the clock, a requirement. Managers think they run their units, they don’t. All these unwritten perks are awarded to those who have a great facade on when dealing (kissing-up) with their charge. Charge nurses are the real individuals who run the hospital.

 A majority of JV charge nurses are on a ‘power trip’. In order to get the better assignments, unfortunately, an employee has to suck-up to them. A majority of inpatient telemetry/oncology nurses are afraid to speak freely to upper management about this issue in fear of retribution.  My advice, after working there for decades, is to show up on time. Get your assignment. Do your own vitals (a majority of PCAs are useless). Do your job. Every time you pass by the JV charge nurse, tell them how great they are. Keep to yourself. Never tell anyone anything personal that they can use against you, because they will when the appropriate time comes. Keep your cellphone under your ‘brain’ while using the computer. Never use the internet on a Kaiser computer because they can, and will, monitor everything an employee does online.

Kaiser Permanente’s Code of Conduct/Principles of Responsibility are a joke. All the  KP Learn online modules and in-person classes they make an employee perform/attend is all for ‘show’ and are required by the state. An employee can report violations to management or the Corporate Compliance hotline, and if Kaiser likes the employee in question, they disregard the report and then they aggressively go after the whistleblower.  Let’s not forget the rampant nepotism (friends and family) that jeopardizes the patients’ quality of care. Remember, as an employee, you’ll receive the same care that employees render to Kaiser’s membership.

Are employees safe in their workplace and will they receive quality healthcare as a patient? Hospital security is a joke to say the least. Compare security measures at RCH and Kaiser, both located in Riverside, and an employee/member will be surprised. As for quality healthcare, a lot of nurses that physically work at the Riverside hospital prefer to be treated at another Kaiser location. Kaiser Riverside is not aTrauma Level 1 hospital, so I ask the potential employee reading this post, where would you want your loved ones to be treated; at a hospital that can handle any medical emergency or one that stabilizes the patient and sends them off to another facility that can handle emergent situation as the precious seconds tick away?

Finally, Kaiser is a great place to work if an applicant is looking for awesome pay, time-off benefits , unwritten perks and job security (since it’s hard to be terminated). However, the benefit of Kaiser medical, in my opinion, is subpar due to becoming Kaiserized on your 91 day.


I report to the Wildomar Outpatient Pharmacy and start the day by retrieving all prescriptions that have not been picked up patients in the last seven days. I return to stock all of the prescriptions in small, bulk, or refrigerated form and scan all of them to ensure they have been returned to stock.  After that, I cross out the names and drug information numbers for patient privacy.  As I wait for the Central Refill Pharmacy medications, I restock other items such as paper bags, pill cutters, measuring spoons, and over the counter medications.  At the same time I am placing new order prescriptions in small plastic bags then shelve them in appropriate bins or refrigerator for easy access.  The prescriptions from the Central Refill Pharmacy arrive and I unload each tote and place each prescription into their proper bins for easy access.  I collect each scan card attached to the totes and scan them in so that they are now a part of our computer system.  I cross reference the manifest with all the refrigerated prescriptions to ensure they have been received and properly stored.  
I have learned the meaning and importance of multi-tasking and paying close attention to fine detail.  Getting along with co-workers is a must and offering a helping hand goes a long way in being able to succeed in the pharmacy work environment.  I have learned that customer service is very important and that patient health care the number one priority in the pharmacy setting.  Having a can-do, positive attitude makes the job easier.  It also helps to be friendly and helpful to everyone you encounter.  
The management team here is great.  Our supervisor gets along great with all of his subordinates and everyone adores him because of his willingness to help and encourage everyone.  He handles every situation with patience and kindness.  He is exceptionally hard working.  Because of his kind spirit and genuine concern for others there are no ill feelings towards the management.  
My co-workers are very supportive in all the things I do for the pharmacy.  They are all joyful individuals and great conversationalists.  They are all very understanding, friendly, and hard working.  
The hardest part of the job is getting all of the over the counter medications out on the floor shelves because there is hardly any walking room around the shelves to get where I have to go.  I guess the shelving could use some arrangement but the good part about it is I am almost face to face with customers and striking some conversations with them is the fun part.  I would ask them if they need any help with picking the right medications or that they need to see the pharmacist because I cannot make a decision for them.  
The most enjoyable part of the job is communicating effectively with coworkers and patients.  My coworkers find me very reliable and they give me a great sense of belongingness. I find it enjoyable getting my job done in a timely manner knowing that I have worked hard and not cut any corners.  My coworkers, including the pharmacy assistants, pharmacy technicians, and even the pharmacist are very grateful and thankful to have me as part of the team even if I work as a volunteer.  I am proud to be of service to them.  It is very satisfying to know from them that I have done a great job.

I had on rose colored glasses as a fomer life long KP patient- looking to pay it forward & make a career with what appeared to be a patient centered network of HEALTH CARE teams. There are, a few truly warm hearted, do-the-right-thing employees peppered throughout the departements. To my disappointment, the majority look the other way or worse, undermine and even backstab their own colleagues. All for the benefit of a little Hush Money or "Golden Handcuffs" they shamelessly refer to it as.

Yes, Kaiser pay/benefits are at the top of the scale. 
For a reason. Most people will do whatever is necessary to not part with what benefits them personally/monetarily. Forbid they work for a more ethical and humane (on the part of patients and employees alike) healthcare system for a potentially slightly lesser benefit package. Myself and others have been shocked by the cut-throat, fear driven nature of even the most supposedly compassionate departments such as Care Management (chaplains, care coordinators, social workers, community navigators). 

Management provides no training and then punishes the employee for that lack of training.  It's all very concocted and strategized. Nothing is what it seems. If you think for yourself, don't automatically fall in line, aren't a company girl or a Yes Man- you will be publicly shamed, mocked and run out. 

I can count on one hand the people I trust in my workplace/teams totalling hundreds. Rather than acting as a support or guide or even encouragement, Management is right in the middle of the games and politics building up those pot stirring muscles while near DAILY adding to the list of expectations/job duties complicating greatly- the uncomplicated. But, constant upheaval and changes must be made, to prove that the role of middle Management is necessary while it certainly is not worth the lavish pay thrown at these hypocrites whom all have equal or lesser edu/exp than those they supervise. They are* good bullshitters with quick, on the fly answers, that always compliment KP's bottom line however. Scheisty car salesmen.

While I have worked with equally ethical, genuine, kind human beings within this Corporation, but they are few. So many uneccesary procedures and even lives ruined for a buck. The Unions are mostly a joke. You pay them, and they bow to Kaiser while you aren't looking. 

While I truly love the actual work I do with patients, it is not valued and I am not valued, in a very unmistakable way. I cannot in good faith or conscience stomach being either a member or employee of this Corporation. My hearty education and experience could actually be valued and used for Good. Anywhere, but here I'm finding. I consider this a learning experience over a waste of time. Kaiser needs whole system education and overhaul on the subject matters covering what Health Care means, not just how to keep the cover glossy. Back to basics. It's no wonder MD's currently lead numbers in suicide rates. When practice does not align with values. 

If you are an ICU travel nurse, I’d strongly advise against working with Kaiser. Their pay is competitive but you’ll be in med-surg and/or tele most of your shifts and will float to all the units in the hospital and will get floated mid-shift and can be floated twice a shift and can and will float across  facilities if they are physically close enough. 

The recruiter will lie about the med-surg/tele floating  Expect to have a minimum of 4-5 patients per shift or 8 patients per shift, or if you are floated twice per shift then 12 patients in a single shift. 

As the ICU travel nurse, you are at the absolute bottom of the food chain at Kaiser. You are to be used anywhere they need you. Do not expect to get the good assignment and expect to get first admission.

Furthermore, there are NO DOCTORS physically around that you can reach or talk face to face if you want to communicate a concern, suggestion, or if you have questions. You have to send a message via the Vocera phone or via the computer and hope to get a call back or the orders you need. Even in the ICU there is no doctors physically around - they make use of tele health to save money/cut cost on doctors to make up for the insane cost the staff nurses incur on Kaiser’s budget. So if you need anything for your ICU patient you call an ICU nurse who will take your message and will relay it to the one doctor who is covering all the ICU patients. And if it is urgent enough, I.e. your patient needs to be emergently intubated or if there is an arrest, the doctor will pop up on a screen inside the ICU room and will bark orders. Let me say it again - no doctors. How ridiculous is that? But it makes sense - Kaiser has to save money by having less doctors since the staff nurses are expensive with their ridiculous salaries and benefits, while the rest of the nurses in the country can barely make ends meet with high working ratios.

AUDITING. They have nurses with no patients who audit your charts in real time and even after your shift. The managers also audit and run reports and will identify you for failing to chart nonsense like teeth brushing for your med-surg patient. So yes - you are being watched, as in your chart, every day, for all of your 4 to 9 patients for the shift.

No help. There are so many nurses with no patients including the break nurses and they all make a lot of money for doing nothing and they do not help you. You are on your own. No PCTs of course and no clerk, as you would expect at night, esp. if you work in the ICU. 

We ICU travel nurses are cheaper for Kaiser to hire than to hire a full staff nurse, and that is why they have for years been using us. But it is a disgusting practice to disrespect ICU nurses and throw us in med-surg to care for 8 patients in a shift when we’re used to 1-2. 

In conclusion: Avoid Kaiser. They’re infamous for abusing ICU travel nurses. The pay is truly not worth jeopardizing your licensee and your spiritual and mental well-being. Had someone warned me against Kaiser, I would have never accepted the contract. I wish you the best.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 64 salaries reported	$71.12 per hour
Licensed vocational nurse 9 salaries reported	$38.61 per hour
Customer service representative 4 salaries reported	$29.00 per hour
Medical assistant 9 salaries reported	$24.36 per hour
Physician 5 salaries reported	$371,565 per year

Working at Kaiser Permanente: Company Overview and Reviews

Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente Ratings

Popular jobs at Kaiser Permanente

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected