registered nurse

physical therapist

occupational therapist

registered nurse manager

nutrition assistant

Kessler-Institute-For-Rehabilitation

This is an increasingly hard profession. The patients with advanced medical technology are surviving more complex conditions that would have otherwise killed them leaving them in more complex conditions such as confusion, violence, debility, etc creating a more stressful and riskier environment. However the job is rewarding that you take the role of a caregiver for patients in their time of need. While they stay with you, you will see them increasingly get better for the most part as you accommodate their needs. The employees are typically very friendly and the benefits are fair. The job is not for the faint of heart as the job requires you to lift well over 100 lbs on a regular basis depending on the patient and injury. Although lifts are recommended for weights such as this with a quick paced environment which speed is necessary to move patients from place to place to make dinner, therapy, toileting, etc lifts are not always optional putting stress on the back and body making this occupation risky. There is a high risk for injury with this job ranking in the top five in the country for jobs that put people on disability. This job can also be very messy involving cleaning many human bodily fluids which without proper equipment and care can lead to infection for yourself. Like I mentioned the experiences and people you meet can make this work experience reward, but like any job there are payoffs.

I loved my job interacting with patients there, and there are truly some great staff members who genuinely care, but they’re overshadowed by toxic management and an unhealthy work environment. The expectations placed on staff are unrealistic, especially when you’re already overwhelmed caring for 8 to 9 patients, constantly running between call lights and trying to keep up safely. Despite how hard employees work, appreciation is rare and criticism is constant. Their “point” system is extremely unfair and only adds stress to an already exhausting job. One of the biggest issues was the behavior of a certain charge nurse and the clear favoritism that was shown. Some employees were treated differently than others, and it often felt like certain people were singled out or targeted while others could do no wrong. Instead of teamwork and support, the environment was filled with gossip, negativity, and people throwing each other under the bus. It became a place I dreaded coming into work because I never knew if I would be supported or blamed for something beyond my control. Management (specifically the certain charge nurse) consistently made us feel undervalued and disposable rather than respected for the difficult work we do every day. It is a shame because the patients and good staff members deserve much better than the toxic culture that has been allowed to continue. This is why the turnover rate there is astronomical and will continue to be.

I receive daily reports of new patients coming in that day.  I great new patient arrivals and chart the time arrived.  If there are special needs, I notify the floor in advance or notify physical therapy to help assist the patient out of the car.  I answer the phones and help callers with any questions they may have.  I issue visitor passes and check restriction lists.  I turn on patients phones. At the end of the evening I file all documents for the day and make a spread sheet of new patients.  The next day I visit the new patients and give them information about our facility, answer any questions they may have and get them in touch with medical staff if needed.
I have learned that sometime people just want someone to listen to them.
Management: Has very little concern for there workers.  Our department has had 7 new directors in 4 years.  Management and hourly employees, its like a revolving door.  Anyone that has been there for less than 10 years rarely stays very long.  Kessler was bought by Select Medical 7 years ago. 
Co-workers: Most work very hard with little recognition. 
Hardest part of my job: When you bring patient or safety issues to managements attention little or nothing is done.
The most enjoyable part of my job: Working with the patients and there families.  It is such a good feeling to see the patients progress.  To see someone walk again is amazing.  The families are good to me.  They see me almost everyday and I listen to there stories and try to always smile and encourage them.

I have been at Kessler for four years now. When I first started, it was a privately held company. I was very happy there. They cared about you as an individual and there were plenty of bonuses and over-time to be had. Once they went public, everything changed. Now I'm just a number and it's all about the bottom line

The patient care is still second to none. I would highly recommend them to anyone needing physical therapy. However, as an employer they leave a lot to be desired.

The hardest part of my job would be scheduling. The clientele in my area are very demanding and since it has become all about the numbers, it is very hard to make a schedule that the therapists can handle.

A typical day at work starts at 7am and ends at 8pm on Monday and Wednesday. I take care of all aspects of the front office. I verify insurance, obtain and track authorizations, answer the phone, make the schedule, make coffee, file, fax, enter the billing, collect the co-pays, reconcile the co-pays at the end of the day, go to the bank to make the deposit, call insurance on billing issues, plus anything else that is needed.

I have learned a lot at Kessler in terms of insurance and billing.

The most enjoyable part of my job would have to be my team in the clinic. We laugh all day and always try to keep the atmosphere light for the patients.

Ratios can get high when people call out due to lack of on call or reserve staff. Support staff (nursing assistants/unit secretaries) are fantastic. Direct managers are nice and can be supportive but upper management is checked out, held off on raising pay for first two years of pandemic despite high employee turnover and little willingness of remaining staff to take overtime. Also difficult to get the working equipment we need (EKG machines, vital sign monitors, ultrasound machines), have to continuously press management and complain that patients are suffering and patient care is declining. Patient acuity is often nearly as high as hospitals though we have higher ratios. Patient families are either the best people or will scream at you if the patient’s dinner is cold. Therapists are great at their jobs but will report nurses and assistants whose patients are late for therapy for any reason, even patient refusing or high ratios/short-staffing. A lot of confused and even violent patients (due to their conditions), who frequently cause serious injuries to direct care staff.

I worked as  CNA while finishing nursing school and was hired immediately after passing the boards. It was a great place to learn as a new graduate nurse.  When I first started there were lower ratios and if we were short staff it was not an every day occurrence.  Other nurses were willing to help and teach the new grads.  Compared to other places I think it was a great first job experience.  In my time at Marlton rehab/Kessler  the patients were sicker and the nurse/patient rations went up.  It is almost a daily occurrence to have 8-10 acutely ill patients per nurse and some are total care patients.  Experienced nurses were leaving due to staff shortages and lower pay than average.  New grad nurses are coming in working a year and leaving for the hospital with critical care experience. When Kessler bought the rehab in 2015 and the culture worsened.  Expect high ratios, expensive health benefits,  lots of extra meetings to meet their shared governance model.  This company attracts new RN's but does not know how to cultivate and keep their nurses.  They continue to have high staff turnover.  My fellow nurses are the people that I miss the most, nothing else.

It’s a great experience for someone who is going to school for nursing. The negative about the job is management and HR doesn’t care if you have an emergency! You will still receive points even if you have proof of documentation. There is no point of Kessler giving PTO, PST. They will deny your request and tell you that you can’t use it. They require for you to put it in weeks earlier. Sometimes emergencies tend to happen but you won’t be able to use your time. I wouldn’t recommend working for this company! We are human and have things that happen in our lives. Save yourself the headache and not work there! This company does not care about their employees. You are nothing more to them an a worker. This job has caused me a lot of stress because if I had an emergency I would stress about points. You can come into work one day and then the next you’re fired if you have points. It’s wrong for them to do this to their employees. If you have proof that you needed to call out of work they should accept the documentation. This company has a lot of turnover rates and a lot of employees who had enough tend to do no call no show. 

I truly enjoyed my experience as an employee at Kessler. Everyday I came home with job satisfaction, as usual some days were more challenging that others but once I got home I realized I made a difference in someone's life or that made a difference in mine. I learned so much over the 2 plus years I worked there, much I was able to apply to my nursing degree and hopefully will improve the care I give to patients in the near future! I never really had a problem with any of my coworkers, we all seemed to mesh well and if there was an issue it was usually able to be addressed successfully.

The hardest part of the job was getting 8 or more patients up and ready by 8:30 in the morning. Not all patients were easy to help get cleaned up for the day, for example, some stroke or brain injury patients needed more care than a patient who has elective knee surgery. Yes, it was most defiantly a challenge, but after some time you begin to find your routine to get patients up in a timely manner.

This company and upper management have no idea how important medical nutrition therapy and it shows. Which is off considering the patient population often require tube feedings and altered diets. The clinical nutrition departments is short staffed and over half of the clinical coverage is staffed with per diems because the company is too cheap to pay for full time or even part time employees with benefits. There are per diems there working 16-30 hours/week who they refuse to offer PT positions to. Gone through 3 clinical nutrition managers in 3 years with almost 1 year without a manager because they wanted someone with experience but the salary they were offering was what a entry level staff Clinical Dietitian makes at other facilities. Two managers in a row left after 1 year. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part was taking care of the patiens but management are terrible,  high turn over as a result.  Management makes the job very degrading and no one ever stays for long and the current management  are the worst at having your back. I will never recommend anyone to work there.  Back pain a surety and they like when workers snitch on each other, there fore putting your job risk and losing it and this one male snitcher was  well liked and boasting about it. Management here is the worst. And HR never have your back here. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Management not wanting you to rest your legs even for a few seconds. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Bias to a degree.  All licenses are more protected making it easy to report on those who did not have any. Such as the middle workers.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Horrible because of management.  Almost all workers are angry because of them.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 5 salaries reported	$46.60 per hour
Physical therapist 3 salaries reported	$87,167 per year
Occupational therapist 3 salaries reported	$78,767 per year
Registered nurse manager 3 salaries reported	$118,167 per year
Nutrition assistant 3 salaries reported	$17.33 per hour

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