health screener

registered nurse

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SSM Health

St. Mary's used to be a well respected and wonderful place to work. Over the years things have changed and this is no longer the place it used to be. Quite honestly, it is A TERRIBLE PLACE TO WORK. The hospital is now run by the SSM mothership in St. Louis and most of administration is clueless or just doesn't care about the unhealthy, negative culture they have created. The nuns would be ashamed of the disaster this place has become. The organizations core values and mission statement remain the same as they were light years ago when the hospital was run by modest nuns and are now a public relations joke. There is no healing presence of God. Its like a cattle call of patients- get them in, get them out, collect the money. 

Everything is about money. They tell you patient safety is #1 but its a complete lie. Nurses are given unrealistic assignments and when speaking up for patient safety are told this is the way it is and if you don't like it leave. If they cared about patient safety they would listen to the nurses who actually are providing the patient care.  An open heart bypass surgery patient is classified the same as a patient having their gallbladder removed or an elective knee surgery. Really?!?! Ask any cardiac nurse if a Cardiac surgery patient should be treated as a general med surg patient and they will tell you NO!! They manipulate acuity criteria so they can continue to give you more patients. Nurses are drowning, screaming for help and there is nobody there to throw you a life jacket. Nurses continue to take the abuse and put their patients first, all the while administration takes advantage of this core value of most nurses. 

They do not value experience or longevity and the expert nurses are dropping like flies, leaving an unskilled pool of nurses with little critical thinking skills. Sadly for the new nurse, administration rushes them through orientation and then throws them to the wolves. They burn out and leave quickly. But hey, new inexperienced nurses are cheaper than experienced nurses. Everyone is replaceable, nobody is valued. 

The nurse executives are not advocates for nursing or patients but rather administration and the bottom line. They should be stripped of the RN credentials at the end of their name as they are destroying the nursing profession and should be ashamed of themselves. How they feel good about themselves and sleep at night I often wonder. But hey, they are making a grand salary and get to go home at the end of their day not worrying they made a mistake or missed something that could lead to patient harm. Most employees recognize the staffing cuts and the negative impact but attempts to discuss the changes with administration leads to nothing. Speak up and you are marked with a bullseye on your back just as though you were wearing a Scarlet Letter for not being a team player. It is very obvious they don't care to hear your opinion and if you don't conform and question the terrible decisions made you are targeted. 

Administrators talk in circles and have fake canned answers for everything. What they might as well come out and say is WE DON'T CARE ABOUT OUR EMPLOYEES OR THEIR CONCERNS SO SHUT UP OR LEAVE. OH AND DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT. Ever heard of the book No Ego? It must be mandatory reading material for all managers. This book is everything that is wrong with management. 

Save yourself some misery and seek employment elsewhere unless you  all you care about is money and working with unhappy people.

When I was hired on at SSM I knew from the get go that I was a contract employee. The team here immediately incorporated me into the daily routine and it wasn't long before I felt like I was one of the "old timers" that had been here for a while. I'm still waiting to be converted into a permanent employee as I can see this being a place that I can work for decades to come.

The team that I work with has a great work/ life balance. We encourage each other to dig in and accomplish goals, but we also know when it's time to step away for a few minutes to unwind. Often times we will eat lunch as a team and use that opportunity to enjoy each others company without discussing work issues. That time is spent purely building rapport with each other on a personal level.

Taking time away from the office to manage family matters is not uncommon for our team members and the rest of the team is quick to step up and help cover the work load. We all understand the need to manage our families and sometimes that means taking a half day, or a full day, off. Never are those people criticized or made to feel like it is a burden on the rest of the team. We all have families and we all get it.

The culture is very accepting and open to communication and constructive criticism. All voices are heard and every voice counts when it comes to this team.

The management on this team has adopted a culture of service. It is evident that they see their position as an opportunity to serve the team members, as well as coach and guide them. Having worked for the "authoritarian" type of leaders in the past, it is refreshing to hear my supervisor ask me "What do you need from me so that you can do your job better?" or "What can I be doing better?" They lead and guide this team to success and they take time to teach and coach us as well.

The hardest thing for me was joining a team that uses software that I was not familiar with. There was some initial training, and the team was great to jump in and answer questions as I had them, but I feel as if there could be a better way to structure the training on the software. I do understand, though, that we operate in a very "software fluid" environment and it would be a huge undertaking to modify any structured training sessions in an effort to keep up with how often we incorporate new tools and software. That being said, there was a bit of "self teaching" that I endured, all the while pestering my team mates with questions that they were gracious enough to patiently address.

● Work-life balance
The days off are AMAZING if you don't have to constantly be concerned about being written up over the various changes that occur when you are off but never communicated in black and white, ALWAYS verbal changes, so needless to say Management flip flops daily and are ALWAYS looking to single someone out, so they have a constant punching bag..it's a very hostile work environment if you're not one of the Supervisors favorites. This same Supervisor works outside of SSM to pull people in. She has taken at least 10 people from BHR, who would have stayed with BHR or kept their current positions elsewhere, had they known what they were in store for. She shops for employees in an unethical, unprofessional, shockingly legal way.... You've been warned, Central Intake is a dog eat dog world, designed to push numbers and ask no questions. Be prepared to be psychic and have your physical and mental health decline.

● Pay & benefits
It may pay more than other places because they're buying your soul. People who are there are not there for the patients, or the love of their job. They're there because they're adults with bills to pay. Regardless of the misery that price tag comes with.

● Job security and advancement
It's not there so don't expect it.

● Management
Too many nuances to keep track of with subpar tools offered. Direct Supervisor is often unapproachable. When questions are asked you are told to refer to your standard process of work (which changes frequently, almost daily, verbally not in writing so they can makeup whatever rule they want, and stay bullying people they don't like) Unconscionable ethics.

● Culture
It's a dog eat dog world. People will sell each other out to stay the favorite pet. And they wonder why everyone there seems miserable every Shift. 12.5 hour shifts and you only get a 30 minute break that you have to earn back at the end of your Shift. They will sneakily take whatever overtime you accumulate, unless you sign up for a extra shift, and freeze your vacation time but use it when they low censuses you.

● Overall
Too many nuances to keep track of with subpar tools offered. Direct Supervisor is often unapproachable, unprofessional, and extremely rude and ghetto!! Not a good look. When questions are asked you are told to refer to your standard process of work (which changes frequently, almost daily)or will only partially respond to the request. Unconscionable ethics.

  I am still viable and have a lot of knowledge and growth potential. The non-clinical positions are available and have been applied for but no recognition for experience or talent. Interviews take place but the hiring or transfer does not. Some positions are posted because they have to be but someone else has already been picked and they have to go through the formality of the hiring process. That is not fair to others ( political- unwritten). The problem is no one wants to advance you in your position to grow with the company. Recruiters lack enthusiasm ( not a go getter) to actually contact the applicant and forward the application to the hiring manager. I have seen a lot of "Clicks" ( Bureaucratic/ political aspects) If your not liked by the recruiter or manager then you do not move up- despite the longevity, integrity, and experience of your nursing career. If your young  and slim it seems you get more advances and opportunities for growth. They can not see the value and benefits you would bring with just one interview for 30- 60 minutes. I heard a manager say about a candidate "well I did not like the response of work life balance." People change positions because they need to or are wanting a change. Changing positions can and usually is stressful. That is pretty simple. The question "Why do you want to come to this department?" Well because I need a change". They usually want more elaboration on the answer. Some candidates do not interview well but have a huge work ethic and do their job exceptionally well, but until you work with that individual  you don't see that. Some Leadership individuals you have to be upbeat with or you are looked down upon- you can not be direct- has to be sugar coated.
The process of hiring and transfers within the departments need to be different. There are too many steps in the process and too many people that handles the onboarding process. 

If that management was involved at all in the department it would be a nice place to work.  The Food Service Manager Never leaves his office unless called out to help, even if he knows people are struggling.  If the Executive Chef is out for the day, the Food Service Manager will find anyway he can not to help out and pick up the slack, if there is a catering or no salad bar person you can bet he will divide that work up with the staff that is there, instead of helping.  No dish person? don't worry he won't help with that either, so plan on cooking and doing all your dishes frequently.  The only person he cares about is the night manager, because he doesn't want to be there at night, so her Ego is through the roof and she will be mean and rude to you for no reason or simply because you request to use your PTO.  Also, the Executive Chef is very 2 faced.  The only competent Manager in the Department is the Dining on Call Manager, if you have a question about anything she has the answer.  A typical work day as a cook starts as making all the breakfast items for retail operations, then setting up for the Dining on call, you prepare all that food plus taking care of the patient line, while also preparing the lunch food for retail.  Load up the alto sham with all the food needed and make more as needed.  The job itself is not bad, there are many amazing co-workers in the department, there are also many backstabbers and lots of politics.  To reward you for your hard work the company cut benefits at the start of 2020, knocking the food discount down from 20 to 10%.  Also they eliminated EMTO.  Prepare to pick up the slack of the lesser employees while getting told the things you missed.  Also, they tell you, you get a night shift differential after 3 p.m. but you do not get it for the day if you take a break after 3 or let their rigged time clock, clock you out automatically it does not work in your favor, you also have to stay until 8 p.m. on the dot or later to get it.  They do not bother to tell you that when you question it, I had to figure that out on my own. 

This is both good and bad. As beginning management you learn multitasking and how to balance everything but with so few people you don't have much support when things get overwhelming or when staffing emergencies happen. Even without staffing emergencies people are constantly going at a fast pace to get everything done and one can feel rushed at times. It is very difficult to get and keep a home life routine because someone calls off or some project or competency  observations requires you break your routine to come in on off shifts and do things. As a tight ship with open positions on the management staff I do far more than a lead should so the manager isn't stuck doing two peoples jobs. We split what we can and I have learned a lot. I have the trust of those above and below me to do the tasks assigned and competently even in my first attempt at doing something and they tend to provide adequate instructions when prompted. This place has seen some negativity in years past and the staff is very adamant about maintaining a healthy happy work environment without maliciousness, he said she said games, or pitting people against each other. There are no cliques. Everyone is welcomed to be part of the family cautiously as they look for those negative features to prevent a workplace regression. Also you are paid based on what you do (your job title) your education does not matter. Your years of experience in that job title do. A 2 year MLT with 15 years of experience will get paid more than an MT with a specialist with a masters degree who only has 3 years in the lab. Yes the second one looks awesome on paper use that time to work up the food chain and use those degrees but a bench tech doesn't require a masters and while a specialist is nice that is a lot more useful for management and making sure the ship is run well. 

Very heavy workload with hardly any time for breaks
Management was very unprofessional with staff
PTO was great
Because of the management, the employees did not get along
Constantly out to get each other with no attempt at teamwork
I felt like the focus was on quantity, not quality
It was more important to be fast than safe, but they acted as if they cared about safety
You were told that you had to participate in the Press Gainey Surveys to give them a good rating. If you did not think they were spectacular, they tried to sway your opinion and tell you to pick strongly agree when you did not agree. You were always coached before a survey. Almost everyone was unhappy even if they did not indicate it on the survey, because they felt like the survey was not actually confidential, and that if they were honest, there may be retaliation from management. I found out later that the survey was optional.
Employees future employment was threatened if someone tried to leave the company, saying that they would be able to make it so that they would not be able to find another job

You did not have time to talk to patients
Emails from management were very distasteful
The departments were disorganized
You were berated when you tried to do the best you could
They hardly ever stood up for their employees if there was a complaint from another department. It was always your fault.
They always wanted you to change your whole life around to fit their needs when somebody quit or got fired, asking you to work your all of your days off. If you said no, you were made to feel guilty and it showed up on the evaluation as inflexible. Some people worked 14 days straight, or double shifts on a regular basis because they were afraid to say no. Everybody was always mentally and physically exhausted and complaining about their job

Becoming an employee at SSM makes you feel like you've been thrown to the wolves. There is no training, only modules to watch. No follow through by management, poor communication about processes and requirements, no chain of command which causes chaos and confusion, inefficient processes, little structure, micromanaging, some upper management take credit for things they took from someone else, etc... Corporations do not like old management and do all they can to bully and push them out. Workload will cause burnout. Ideas behind what should be done are great, but they are not realistic when short staffed or learning new systems. Nothing ever seems to be good enough and it's always do more and do better. I can't speak for all of SSM, but the onboarding I've experienced has been terrible and leadership has control issues - do not offer suggestions or implement best practices without their blessing (and good luck getting it). Also, don't come in WANTING to work and do your job well because it's frowned upon and viewed as a threat if in management. It's sad that poor leadership can make long time employees who love their job dread coming to work because it's now something negative and unfulfilling because they're being bullied and treated incompetent day in and out. I love my job, my patients, my staff, and my providers, but my leadership is terrible and not held accountable for anything they do - their leadership covers for them which makes them just as bad for not doing what is right, esp for an entity that bases their foundation on Christian beliefs. 

SSM should be ashamed of themselves for how they treat their employees and even their patients. My job duties were as follows- insurance verification, Utilization Review for IP admissions, prior authorizations for testing service, VA referral authorizations, being the point of contact for the departments billing needs. Had to work on several projects in order to billing is behavioral fixed. I did this for all three SSM sites in the greater Fond du lac, St Agnes, Ripon, Waupun. I did this alone with small help for one other person. Never received additional compensation for the additional responsibilities that were constantly being dumped on me. Was never acknowledged or thought of for any position advancements in my 4 years. I completely restructured the billing process for behavioral health and got zero recognition from my leaders. Management will gas light you and make you feel bad when you say no to something or don’t agree with them. They used me for dedication and hard work that provide patients and staff, my reliability and dependability. HR nor my leaders spoke to me when I resigned. I completed several references guides to help the team figure my processes. I could even make it my full week notice because I was made to feel so uncomfortable. They told they would be lost without me if I left. I leave and they treat me like a disciple employee as if I did something wrong. HR never once reached out to me about how my leaders were treating me and all the concerns I brought to them about my leaders and work load were just ignored. SSM is a deplorable company. 

Typical day is answering phone calls from patients, families, caregivers and other providers  through a computerized phone system. The system has frequent call drops. Employees can use the system to their advantage to take fewer calls and there is minimal oversight from leadership to correct this which results in some employees taking more calls than others. 

Management in the department is invisible many days with irregular department meetings and one to one meetings often being canceled for some people and more frequent for others. Senior leadership tries to have a very visible presence by holding meetings frequently for the entire continuum of care. 

Although the company has a religious basis, it doesn't feel "preachy". Flu shots are mandatory even for 100% remote employees unless you have a religious or other exemption.

Insurance benefits are lacking with a smaller network of doctors and "no name" insurance plan. Working remotely, you can live anywhere in the states where SSM does business however there are not always doctors available. The have a special approval that can be obtained to see other doctors if you live a long way from the in network doctors but you are expected to travel nearly 2 hours to see a primary care. This requires you to take time off from work and paid time off is all encompassing for sick, vacation and holiday. 

Working remotely is such a pro that there are many cons that you put up with to stay in a remote job.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Health screener 239 salaries reported	$35.30 per hour
Registered nurse 75 salaries reported	$40.13 per hour
Screener 197 salaries reported	$30.41 per hour
Temperature screener 31 salaries reported	$31.87 per hour
Medical assistant 4 salaries reported	$19.40 per hour

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