registered nurse

registered nurse - emergency room

telecommunicator

registered nurse - medical / surgical

patient registration representative

South County Hospital

Opening at 6 in the morning can seem daunting and could easily be dreaded. However, the experiences and opportunity at the facility are anything but. Originally beginning my time at the local hospital as an intern for college credit, I later accepted the position of Exercise Physiologist with great enthusiasm. My experiences have been nothing short of rewarding, both educationally and personal relationships. The small staff of experienced, trained and exceptional individuals cater to each patients needs from those undergoing cardiac rehabilitation, those suffering from pulmonary limitations, diabetics, obese/weight management and those just attempting to better their overall general fitness through exercise. A typical day at the Rehab and Wellness Center begins early. Most often patients arrive before staff and wait eagerly by the door in anticipation to begin thier work outs. Patients, with ages ranging from 20-98, take part in one of morning classes of toning, balance or ball classes, each targeted to improve individuals activities of daily living. As an Exercise Physiologist duties include; catering exercise regimens to patient needs, personal one-on-one training, instructing small fitness classes, monitoring patients vitals pre/post and throughout exercise sessions, manage medical records, and monitoring/identifying patients EKGs through 4-lead telemetry. My experiences at the hospital have taught me the values, tasks and hard work required to run a successful and enjoyable cardiopulmonary rehabilitation center. Working with talented staff and under a demanding yet wonderful management (flexible, patient, caring for both patients and staff), have been truly great. The most difficult yet most rewarding aspect of the job would have to be to get patients to begin regimens and/or diet changes. As new patients enroll in the program, many have multiple limitations, limited experiences with physical activity and/or are taking numerous medications. To motivate patients to begin a program, to continue and be consistent with the workouts/diet changes, and/or make some alterations in their daily lives can be tough. As some patients may not be 100% into changing their ways or diet, its important and my job to help them recognize the importance and benefits of making even the smallest changes. As they make these changes, and begin to see success, their enthusiasm most often changes and no longer looked as an impossible task. Seeing someone not only change physically, and see improvements in their general health, but also see the emotional and mental improvements encourages me to continue my job. Its difficult to encourage someone who has no interest in working out, changing dietary habits or smoking habits to continue, however once improvements are recognized and I see attitudes change, I truly enjoy my experience at the facility. The opportunities presented at the South County Hospital Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Wellness facility has been rewarding, enjoyable and an experience of clinical patient care like no other.

Since change in hospital senior leadership over a year ago, this hospital has sadly gone downhill. I worked as a nurse there for over 5 years in two different departments and both are unsafe working environments. Nursing and ancillary staff has been cut across the organization yet patient load has stayed the same or increased. Patients are treated more as an assembly line than individuals. Management places more importance on “productivity” charts to justify the bottom line than on safe patient care. What was once “RI’s #1Hospital for Nursing Satisfaction” has within the past six months experienced a nursing mass exodus. It’s also the lowest paying hospital in salaries for nurses. Annual raises are a joke when compared to inflation and cost of living. New graduate nurses receive the significant annual increase in pay while experienced “veteran” nurses receive literally a twenty cent raise if they’re lucky. Very top heavy with management and supports nepotistic relationships throughout organization so there is no one you can trust. Whoever is leaving the positive reviews for this place either hasn’t worked there in over a year or is a current employee chugging the Kool-aid. 

 Administration and Management do not care whatsoever about their employees. They talk a good game but don't ever expect them to show up when "it" hits the fan. They only show up to get their photo taken in order to promote their 5 star facility when a staff member gets an award. The bottom line is always the almighty $. Get them in and get them out. It doesn't matter what the patient's needs are. They never look at the acuity level of patients before making out assignments. They expect you to keep quiet and just do your job. It doesn't matter to them if you are put in a position where your patients and Iicense at risk. There is no consideration or respect for their employees. You get cancelled so many times and in order to get a full paycheck, you have to pay yourself with PTO, leaving yourself no time to fall back on. Forget about taking vacation beyond one week,  you will never get it or you will be told to find your own coverage because its not the managers job to do it. Don't bother to go to HR with any issues, they only side with administration and management and will lie to you to protect them.

This is an organization who in the past few years  has turned over it’s executive leadership at a dangerous pace. There’s a shortage of clinical staff, as is the case nationwide, but the CEO and other executives blame this issue for every challenge they face. Meanwhile, SCH struggles to pay the median wage for nurses and other clinical staff. Clinical/medical decisions are interfered with to an unhealthy degree by leadership. By and large, the physicians do not have faith in the CEO and much of the executive leadership. They often express feeling left out of decision-making, even on issues that have bearing on their clinical specialties. There is genuine hostility toward the CEO; docs feel insulted and marginalized for not being consulted. Except for joint replacement for which they have one renowned surgeon, the hospital generally only engages in simple procedures, referring and/or transferring out for serious work, so their ratings are high for the simple care patients receive. They brag incessantly about the rather unimpressive accolades they have received.  Small hospital, small minds.

I work as a PCT in the Emergency Department. I was very nervous going in because I had never worked in a hospital setting before, and had heard from my mother and aunt, both of whom worked in healthcare, that "nurses eat their young." On the contrary, the nursing staff I work with was so welcoming, kind, and supportive despite working incredibly long, hard hours in the midst of a pandemic. 

Sometimes scheduling can be a bit confusing, but then again I work per diem, so I can't speak for people working full or part time. 

The hours are long and the work can definitely be hard, but it's still incredibly rewarding and the workplace atmosphere is awesome. 

10/10 would recommend if you want to work in the healthcare field!

Love working there. Great coworkers. Pay scale is the same as it was in the 1980's. Horrible pay, horrible benefits. Management is way out of touch with the great people who care and make the operations of hospital happen. Extreme amount of waste. Money is literally thrown right in the dumpster. Millions worth I have personally witnessed. Instead of issues being handled correctly, product is just tossed into dumpster. It really is unbelievable. SCH is a three ring circus. That I care not to be part of. Hopefully things will change for them. It really is a nice hospital. With great employees. But the way the employees are treated and the disgusting wages they are payed, it is a disaster waiting to happen. Alot of incompetence in management!

Overall a great hospital for the patients. Strong emphasis on customer service and support. The work culture is not the greatest, many employees who are burnt out, over worked and underpaid always complaining about one thing or another. Managers do whatever they want and play favorites. There is NO union at all and no job security. Pay is low. Work life balance is none existent and dont even think about being sick, you'll get fired for callung out if you are or fired for being late if you think you're doing the right thing by dragging yourself in. Not every department is equal however, and different managers are better than others. Gossping is common place, so is drama and backstabbing. The benefits are amazing though.... if you dont get fired for using them that is....

What is the best part of working at the company?
Location only and some of the people 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The c-suite leadership 
They are very toxic and not about the focus on patient safety it’s about glamour the funds are nit being applied in patient care

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Like I said toxic the CEO yells at leaders demoralizing their passion and marks their staff
Saying remarks like a monkey could do that job 
Or other toxic remarks like this job is like making donuts 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Trying to keep my team positive and reinforce the passion to care for the patients but then the huddle time with the C-suite and he and the CNO/COO never have a sincere kind message

A typical day at this job was constantly short staffed. I learned what it means to have co workers that are hostile. Management is toxic, sides with management and HR, hire under false pretenses, do not deliver on anything promised, yet continually surprised us on how miserable and incompetent staff can be.  The culture demands you try and survive amongst fake coworkers who are sabotaging you and throwing you under the bus while wearing a smile to your face.  The hardest part of the job was looking for another one while battling depression from being gaslit, harassed, abused, exploited, and dealing with unsupportive  coworkers, managers. The pros are that you will never have a worse job in your life, the worst is over! 

After you first get hired, there is supposed to be roughly a two-week training period. The first week is in office with others learning the system however they hardly even train you to use the system or everything that you as an employee are supposed to know in the job. The second week is done in the ED with fellow coworkers which usually goes by fine because they teach better than the higher ups. The worst thing about the job is the higher ups. They are bad at communication after saying that communication is extremely important in that department. They hardly know how to treat their staff and then wonder why people end up quitting left and right. Long story short the job is fine, but management is horrible.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 10 salaries reported	$46.05 per hour
Registered nurse - emergency room 6 salaries reported	$52.96 per hour
Telecommunicator 4 salaries reported	$19.81 per hour
Registered nurse - medical / surgical 4 salaries reported	$42.84 per hour
Patient registration representative 5 salaries reported	$22.16 per hour

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