registered nurse

senior clinical nurse

UNC Rex Healthcare

I was in a residency program that made me follow another nurse's schedule completely. This nurse's schedule was mostly busy/crazy days every day. My preceptor was wonderful and even though we stayed busy she taught me a lot quickly. For a new grad RN trying to learn and learn the unit, this can be very discouraging when you mainly see crazy days and feel that you are set up for failure from the start and no one is listening. I was able to learn a lot on the unit and tried to adjust but felt that certain issues I had definitely needed to be addressed, but were disregarded by the nurse manager. For example, the NAs not asking each other for help first at all, but asking the nurse for help every time. As the new nurse on the unit, I then received an attitude if I did not stop what I was doing and help even if I was busy. Some of the staff were not very welcoming to me as a new employee, but some were very nice and I appreciated that. I feel that when an orientee decides that the unit is not a good fit for the employee the manager should have them fill out a survey to find out ideas to maybe make a few changes to make things better for future orientees. At this time it seems that UNC Rex does not care to change their ways of how they treat on-coming new employees because they do no such thing.

Generating revenue, not patient care, is the top priority in the Radiation Oncology Department. Treatment machines are not adequately staffed (1-2 therapists) compromising the safety of patients and staff. When cancer patient requests  specific appointment times due to work or transportation restrictions, staff is discouraged from accommodating that patient if their request falls even slightly outside the first or last appointment time of the day.  

For years, therapists have not been allowed to go to ASTRO or encouraged in any way to advance their education. 

Clinical staff is not allowed to get overtime. If a staff member is close to 40 hours by the end of the week, they are required to inform the Team Lead so that arrangements can be made for that person to come in at a later time or leave early the following day(s). Fiscal responsibility is ofcourse important, but this action often leaves the treatment machines understaffed for a significant portion of the work day. 

Rex has the reputation of being a great place to work and I had high hopes when hired. I believe there is still potential for Radiation Oncology to be a great department, but the only way for that to happen is for the hospital administration to hire managers who balance fiscal responsibility while prioritizing patient and staff care. The clinical team in Rad Onc is amazing, but there has been high turnover in recent years.

I have worked at this company for several years. Every year UNC seems to sink their teeth in Rex more and more and you become just a number instead of an individual.
 
You will work short-staffed on an almost regular basis. Some departments will receive pay evaluations and raises to retain staff (clinical or "direct patient care"), while others are continuously neglected and not evaluated. 
Rex used to be a great place to work, where it was difficult to get in to and people came here and worked happily until retirement. 
Now management either does not care or does not want to change. 

HR has way to much influence and pull on the day to day operations. 
You cannot get new staff because the rates of pay are so low for non clinical staff, yet HR will not raise the rate of pay.
Yet current staff is already stretched thin and is expected to pick up the slack resulting in even more burnout, but they are happy to pay the OT rather than raising the base pay, go figure!

Currently a sinking ship with no land in sight. 
Ever since the takeover by UNC in 2000 it has gotten progressively worse every year.

UNC Rex offers strong clinical exposure and serves a large patient population, creating opportunities to gain experience in a fast paced healthcare environment. The staff includes many skilled technologists and healthcare professionals who work hard to provide quality patient care under demanding circumstances. However, my experience highlighted challenges related to communication, consistency, and training structure. Expectations during onboarding and training at times felt unclear, and processes occasionally appeared to change depending on the situation. As a newer technologist seeking growth and progression, I hoped for more consistent hands on learning opportunities and clearer guidance regarding development goals. Workplace culture and team dynamics can vary significantly depending on the department and leadership structure. While many employees are dedicated and supportive, improving communication, mentorship, and training organisation could strengthen the experience for new hires and employees looking to expand their skills and confidence.

The work was very easy, and could be explained well by the right person. However, there were some people who found it tedious to even train the first place, as though it was burden onto them. Getting the experience was fantastic, and I thoroughly enjoyed the samples we processed and the work that I did, however, the people I worked around were not the same. There are some employees who have the same exact job title as you who will try to bully and belittle others, and then turn around and say its "only because they care about the patients". There were a few coworkers that thought they could bully the people to the point they quit that same day and nothing was ever done about it. The senior med techs (more specifically Micro) don't want to do their own work (reading slides) but instead, want to stay on your case and micromanage every little detail of your entire work life. Pay sucks, even after having a 4 year degree, and theres no comp. Gave us critical pay for a month and then took it away.

My experience has been very positive during my tenure at Rex. I have been in lots of organizations throughout my career and truly think this is the best culture I've ever experienced. Of course, I have an excellent boss and that makes a big difference. There are obvious budgetary constraints now in the aftermath of the pandemic and non-clinical areas don't get the attention that nursing does. But that is understandable, given their importance in caring for patients. I would totally recommend this organization to someone I value. It is a great place to work!

Co-workers were wonderful to work with, as were people from other departments. Unfortunately, this was overshadowed by the management in my own department.

Very much 'old-school' and the supervisor was overly controlling (and not very sympathetic to out of work problems unless you happened to be a 'favorite'). Director and supervisor team will 'listen' to problems, but not take effective action to fix them (will make a show of looking into it, but no effective change to the problems afterward). There was very much an 'us against them' attitude fostered, which did not help with inter-departmental relationships.

Lot of gossip and backbiting of fellow employees, including by the supervisor; enough that you could be reasonably sure that when you weren't within earshot, you were probably gossiped about/talked down about as well.

Management attempts to provide a work life balance to off set the current understaffing within the pharmacy department; however, being understaffed daily despite having increased roles and expectations with no increase in pay is leading to burnout. The same Pharmacists call out a lot with no repercussion’s. Lack of communication between upper management and pharmacy staff— decisions are constantly made with no discussion or input from the staff despite it impacting them most. Pharmacists at other UNC health hospitals are paid a lot more than pharmacists here and HR continues to neglect that and adjust pay to be fair but continues to refer us as “one pharmacy”. Very unorganized, needs improvement on workflow and structure in all areas and more communication between upper management and staff at a personal level. 

Huge lack of communication in virtually every aspect. Nurses, management, coworkers, expectations. Low pay. Not worth it. I was never asked at any time in my year-long employment how I was doing. I received my 6-month feedback from management after a year of work. I applied for other positions and was never acknowledged or interviewed. Had horrible workplace interactions with some coworkers and was never spoken to about it even though I brought it up. Coworkers talk about others, around others. Overall a terrible place to work and I will never work in healthcare again after this experience. Glad I worked as a CNA before pursuing nursing school because REX taught me it is not worth it in any way. Prepare to be on a lonely island with no communication from management or team leaders. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
I worked there for 26 years. My experience there was great. The staff worked well on educational programs and issues. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I didn't have any stressful parts

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The environment and culture was very important they always had different management teams to encourage and teach on the culture. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Greeting patients and making sure they were important and cared for, my day was great .I love meeting families and talking with them, making sure they're okay

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 5 salaries reported	$38.14 per hour
Senior clinical nurse 3 salaries reported	$32.70 per hour

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