registered nurse - emergency room

registered nurse

paramedic

registered nurse - critical care

registered nurse - medical / surgical

South Shore Health

A Typical Day at Work
A typical day likely starts with reviewing the schedule of patient transport requests, such as moving patients to diagnostic tests, surgeries, or discharge. You’d be stationed at a control desk, fielding calls from nurses, doctors, and other staff, while using a dispatch system to assign tasks to transport staff. The day is fast-paced, with constant communication via phone, radio, or software to track patient locations and staff availability. You prioritize urgent requests—like emergency transfers—while managing routine ones, often juggling multiple tasks under time pressure. Breaks are short, and the day might end with ensuring all pending transports are completed or handed off to the next shift.
What You Believe You Learned
In this role, you’d learn the importance of clear communication and quick decision-making. You’d develop a knack for prioritizing tasks in a high-stakes environment, understanding hospital workflows, and mastering logistics under pressure. You’d also gain insight into patient care processes, learning medical terminology and the needs of different departments. Over time, you’d build emotional resilience, handling stressful situations like delays or critical patient transfers, and improve your ability to stay calm and organized amidst chaos.
Management
Management in this role can vary. Effective managers provide clear expectations, support staff during peak times, and ensure adequate resources like enough transporters or functional equipment. They’d recognize the high-pressure nature of the job and offer guidance or training to improve efficiency. However, if management is disconnected, they might overlook the dispatcher’s workload or fail to address systemic issues like understaffing, which can lead to frustration. Good managers foster open communication, listen to feedback, and advocate for their team to improve processes.
Workplace Culture
The workplace culture likely reflects the broader hospital environment—collaborative yet intense. Dispatchers work closely with transporters, nurses, and other staff, creating a team-oriented vibe where mutual respect is key. However, the high-stress setting can sometimes lead to tension, especially if departments are siloed or communication breaks down. A positive culture would encourage camaraderie, with staff supporting each other through busy shifts. Recognition for keeping things running smoothly, even behind the scenes, boosts morale. Conversely, a lack of appreciation or constant pressure without downtime can make the culture feel draining.
The Hardest Part of the Job
The hardest part is likely managing competing priorities under time constraints. You’re constantly balancing urgent requests (like a patient needing immediate surgery) with routine ones, all while dealing with unexpected delays, such as equipment issues or staff shortages. Staying calm when staff or patients’ families are frustrated, or when critical situations arise, adds emotional strain. The pressure to avoid mistakes—since delays can impact patient care—can be intense, especially during peak hours or understaffed shifts.
The Most Enjoyable Part of the Job
The most enjoyable part is likely the sense of accomplishment from keeping the hospital running smoothly. Knowing your coordination directly helps patients get to where they need to be—whether for a life-saving procedure or a step toward recovery—can be deeply rewarding. The role also offers variety, with no two days being exactly the same, and the chance to build rapport with transporters and other staff adds a social element. Solving logistical puzzles and seeing the results of your quick thinking can bring a sense of pride and purpose.

Work-life balance
Encourages staff to work longer hours but does not acknowledge efficiency and quality of work.

Job security and advancement
Management has favorites and puts staff in boxes that do not allow for growth. Staff are discouraged from researching to gain more understanding. Management ignores problems, focuses on putting out fires and then throws staff under the bus when the leaders fail. Very retaliatory and defensive  when staff raise concerns regarding culture ( gossiping, cliques, flying monkeys, gaslighting etc) or when concerns about accountability are raised.

Management
Management seems to spend a lot of time with each other engaging in small talk and then complaining they don’t have time to monitor employee performance. Tend to rely on underlings for information that is readily available on the internet and then wonder why we don’t go to them with questions. When things go wrong, they do not accept responsibility.

Culture
Cliquey, favoritism, misuse of policies to retaliate when confronted with failure to address problems. Excuses toxic behavior ( cliques, gossiping, backstabbing, gaslighting ) as blowing off steam. Lack of integrity in following mission and lack of curiosity in improving their management style.

Overall
South Shore Health has many great clinicians and support staff but suffers from poor management. Management tends to have a shallow view of the mission and focuses on self preservation rather than improvement. Very disappointing experience in a position that I did well and felt matched my skills and personality perfectly but was led by managers who lacked curiosity and integrity.

A typical workday includes being rushed out the door for numerous transports on hold; usually without the time to properly check job critical equipment. You will then do transports back to back for the entirety of your shift without any breaks of any kind, especially for meals (this applies to the non emergency inter-facility transport crews). All while watching nurses, doctors, aides, and every other employee take their lunch break. Then just when the end of shift is within reach you will be held over past the end of your shift for hours on end. I was personally held for 5 additional hours. This is not due to unplanned emergencies but rather the nonexistent planning and coordination of management staff. Calls are not handed out to crews in a fair manner; favoritism is prevalent. If your friends are not in the dispatch office get ready for a long day. Workplace culture is toxic and ripe with  s*xual harassment and unprofessionalism. The way the EMS crews are treated compared to other hospital staff is disgusting. Wages are the lowest in the local private EMS industry. Hardest part of the job is finding the willpower to not throw your NREMT card in the trash and call it a day after having to deal with incompetent supervisors and managers. Enjoyable part of the job is treating and transporting the patients which is why most of us signed up to be EMTs in the first place.

The culture of the hospital is toxic. The floor I worked on had a bunch of cliques and it felt like I was in high school. Everyone is in each other’s business, including the manager. Rumors were always spread and there was always some sort of drama. The women are much older than I am so I was shocked when I witnessed some of the lateral violence and bullying from these middle aged women. HR will not work with you if you request a change. HR is incredibly difficult to get in touch with anyway. There wasn’t any room for advancement within the hospital either. To get into another department, you essentially had to leave the hospital to get experience before being considered: one woman had been with South Shore for 8 years and she wanted to venture into the ICU. Well she was denied; she was told to apply to the telemetry floor, work there for a year, apply to the IMCU, work there for a year then consider applying for the ICU. I on the other hand wanted to get into the NICU, I was told by a worker that she had to leave and work at BI Plymouth as a nursery RN for 6 months before South Shore would consider her. How disgusting is it that they don’t put the energy and effort into their own employees? Sure it’s a nice and pretty hospital but the principles are not there. Also, nurse to patient ratio is unsafe.

I have worked for this establishment for the last three years, in that time I have learned many skills that will help me with continuing my education in the medical field. However, south shore health has a lack of human resource support. Throughout my time in my department, and many others I have been floated too when staffing required it I have experienced many uncomfortable situations that were then brought to management and Human Resources. Nonetheless, my concerns were pushed under the rug as many others before me concerns were as well. Although there are many amazing medical professionals within the south shore health company it’s no longer a company I am willing to sacrifice my blood, sweat, and tears for. Due to lack of appreciation, overwhelming responsibilities due to lack of staffing, and ignorance from fellow colleagues who believe their title means our duties as their “aids” are below them. I love caring for patients and their families and supporting the many incredible nurses, physicians, and my fellow nursing assistants however due to these circumstances I can no longer put my mental, physical, and overall being on the back burner. 

I had the opportunity to work on Pratt 6 north and the Imcu. This is the worst run  floor in the entire hospital. There is complete  lack of standards for nursing care, patient  care, and patient safety, none of which exist. There is zero leadership on this floor. The lack of management knowledge and lack of professionalism is mind blowing. The turn over rate on this floor is extremely high. I felt that the entire time I was on this floor my professional liscense as a nurse was at risk, the lack of respect for the nurses from the nurse manager was mostly the number one problem I was hearing from colleagues when I left which created a bad culture on the floor and lack of trust between nurses and the manager. In addition, the acuity on the floor is extremely high and the floor was always short staffed, nursing aids being diverted to other floors, and attending nurses being used as only staffing bodies not a recourse to the nurses. I  loved my colleagues but feel so bad for those that are still experiencing all of these parts of the flood. Good luck. 

working as a unit coordinator was the worst job I have ever had.  I was talked down to on multiple occasions when i was just trying to do my job.  The pay is absolutely awful for the amount of stress and responsibility that falls on you.  the job responsibilities were those of a "receptionist" when on multiple occasions i would be in patient rooms helping them because certain aides wouldn't, or i couldn't find them.  I even changed a patients dirty linens because i felt so bad for the patient.  I would never work at south shore hospital ever again and would not recommend it.  Management was awful and didn't know what we went through every day.  None of the nursing aides had phones, so when I would try to find help for a patient locating an aide was next to impossible.  It infuriated me because i wished i could just go help the patient but it was "beyond my scope" the poor patients are the reason why you should be in health care, and when you run and hide when they need help is just so disheartening.

Best job I’ve ever had. The nurses can be cliquey but that’s anywhere you go in healthcare as ling as you work below them. You learn a lot in the OR, it’ll change your life. If you work at a satellite building, don’t go per diem without cross training to the main hospital or you will lose you job. I’m now a college grad and can’t get a job at south shore health because I was previously terminated. I’m sure that’s all they see when they look me up. What they don’t see is that I was not able to maintain per diem status because my location was fully staffed (I was replaced when I went to college), and that no matter how many times I asked in the two years I worked there, management wouldn’t give me the opportunity to cross train at the main hospital- thus not giving me the ability to pick up any shifts to maintain a status of per diem. After I think 3 months of not picking up they terminate you. 

I met many wonderful people; experienced, dedicated, driven, and professionals. Sat on many teams and committees - enjoyed the various personalities. Everybody worked together to accomplish goals and objectives, as well as provided support to get tasks completed. The medical & supports staff were experienced and helpful.

Worked for a bully, inappropriate comments, expectations, critical and egotistical. Constant criticism only created more anxiety. Was not the right hire for what this individual needed.  Constantly criticized and judged upon administrative assistant skills when that was not my position.

Autonomous position that allows the you to make a difference the lives of home bound patients. Poor leadership and management. Consistently short staffed putting a greater workload on the field staff that stay. Culture of putting out fires rather than addressing root cause and implementing lasting changes. Long work hours without compensation. Salaried position. Difficulty getting PTO approved limiting ability to plan vacations. Changes to procedures/documentation requirements  without guidelines or policies. Dysfunctional on all fronts!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse - emergency room 9 salaries reported	$27.31 per hour
Registered nurse 5 salaries reported	$52.79 per hour
Paramedic 1 salary reported	$30.31 per hour
Registered nurse - critical care 10 salaries reported	$56.03 per hour
Registered nurse - medical / surgical 1 salary reported	$70.00 per hour

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