registered nurse

laboratory technician

patient care technician

licensed practical nurse

technician

University of Rochester

This position is just a foothold job while you start looking internally at the hospital.It's easy to get into but you don't want to stay here. As soon as you hit your six months, get out! The department is a mess and nobody likes you. Patients, visitors, and pretty every employee that works inside the hospital hates your department. You are everyone's enemy. Anyone who's not in your department can basically get away with murder if they wanted to. It sucks that you soon come to realize how vital your role is in the hospital. Who would've thought parking was such a critical thing? The hospital literally can't function without a well staffed parking department, which it hardly is. I've been to many internal interviews as well to move elsewhere in the hospital, hiring managers scoff at this job title, so make sure you have a good background or a medical degree of some sort. There ARE ways to further your education within the hospital while still working without going into debt after 6 months. The hospital offers programs for employees but not everyone can get in. I can't stress enough how serious the hospital takes education so make sure you are taking advantage of everything U of R has to offer its employees while job hunting.

A list of some of issues you frequently come across as a Parking Rep- Countless of Employees are sneaking into the garages without permit, dropping off+ getting food delivered at the wrong locations and causing traffic back ups to the road, people smoking in front of sick patients, accusing valet of damaging their vehicles to try to squeeze money out of the hospital, it's endless. People throw fits over the most ridiculous things and there is nothing you can do. Parking ticket? You actually don't even have to pay it unless you're an employee who got caught. People are individually racking up hundreds of dollars in owed money. The garage pays for many things in the hospital, it's not 'robbing' anyone of their money. The job is just incredibly frustrating and you tend to just stop caring after a while because it's just an endless cycle that is only getting worse as more and more people start coming to U of R.The sheer volume of people that come to the main parking garage is no fun for anyone. Of course every job deals with rude people but this isn't retail or sales.

 You get additional training to cover various positions in your department for coverage. It's all outdoors, you are not part of the office anymore. The jobs themselves aren't complicated but it's mentally mind numbing and especially physically exhausting if you're in valet. Interacting with some patients really takes it out of you. About half a dozen people are calling out every day too so get used to that. Hot summers and snow storms puts everyone in a bad mood. If you have a 'I don't give a $%@#' attitude and love the chaos then this is for you. The only good thing are the coworkers because you all have to deal with this together and have to have each other's backs. You get each other through the day. There's some really good people in this department and there's some genuinely nice patients and you bond with them if they're regulars. You interact primarily with Facilities, Public Safety(Sometimes there's fights, escaped patients or even dealing with someone's stalker and you gotta call) and Guest Services a lot as well and some of these people are awesome too.The department is also going through a lot of internal changes currently. U of R has rightfully high expectations and even with thousands of employees there is still a family aspect, it's just a shame this department feels like the unloved middle child.

I've worked in multiple research labs at the University of Rochester and my overall level of enjoyment has been mostly dependent on what principal investigator I'm working for.  

My coworkers are mostly graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate researchers, and other laboratory technicians.  Most members of the lab are working primarily for the sake of a degree or to publish papers.  Therefore, the students are very dedicated to their research and willing to put in long hours to accomplish their research goals.  As a laboratory technician, I often felt at odds with other lab members because while I enjoyed the research and found it interesting, I wasn't willing to work the same amount of hours a typical graduate student would.  Some labs are fine with that and understand, some are not.

The days are generally very flexible and I used that to take advantage of the University of Rochester's generous employee tuition reimbursement plan.  As a full-time employee, I was able to take as many undergraduate courses I could accommodate into my schedule for almost nothing.  One of the most enjoyable parts of the job is the intellectual freedom to take interesting courses, reading scientific literature, and making a real scientific contribution.

There is no real career advancement on the research side of the University, but maybe this is different in other departments.  I think over the past few years I've gotten a yearly pay increase of 1% with no bonus of any kind.  This, for me, is the most difficult part of the job.  Assuming there aren't layoffs due to a lack of grant funding, there doesn't seem to be any way to advance or earn a decent wage in the research labs.

The parking situation is bad.  University of Rochester recently finished building a new parking garage, but it costs far too much per year to seriously consider.  New hires will most likely have to park in the shuttle lot.

Ultimately, job stability in the research labs is tenuous and dependent on a principle investigator's ability to secure funding, but it's pretty enjoyable while it lasts.

A typical work day, for me, consists of working in two different buildings. In the morning, I typically help the accounting side of our department. I work with a group and have accountants who manage funds for the professors. My job is to help the accountants go through reports and make sure everything is in order. Also, I make sure that purchases we make are hitting the accounts correctly. During the second half of my work day, I head to another building and get mechanical. The group has a workshop that only a few are allowed to access. It consists of me and two co-workers. Students, faculty and staff bring projects they're working on to the shop and we manufacture them. I work with many different tools including a drill press, lathe, table saw, sand blaster, soldering iron, nail gun and more. During my time here, I have learned a lot but most importantly I have learned to become a great communicator. It is important that I have good communication with co-workers so we can get a job done quickly but, in a organized fashion. The job does allow for me to be independent too. This is important because it challenged me to be successful on my own. I had to apply my skills and expertise to resolve a problem or on the task at hand. The hardest part of the job is the down time. I'm a hard worker, who enjoys responsibility and earning my paycheck. Unfortunately, I don't always have something to do and because of this I've been able to develop a patient attitude. The most enjoyable part of the job is watching my hard work and effort pay off. I'll receive a task and then develop a way to complete it with co-workers or independently. This is a general idea of what I do on a day-to-day basis.

A typical day at work would start with me going in early to print the daily schedule of pediatric patients. The list would include the patients medical insurance coverage so it was my job to verify insurance and any co-pays that were needed. In order to do this I spent a majority of my time on the phone with insurance companies. After the information was verified in would go into the system and enter all the valid information for the receptionist before the patients appointment to make sure there was no little to no wait time at the front desk. I was the only one resposible for verifying patients with personal insurance and medicaid which was demanding at times, however, I decided to use the last 20 minutes of each day to get and early start on the next day. I also took a training class on the IDX system that was used for scheduling patients in order to be a backup receptionist.  Previously, I was responsible for collecting co-pays from all the pediatric departments and taking the money to the cashiers office within the hospital. I always had a great relationship with my co-workers and my manager had a open door policy where I was comfortable to express my concerns about any situation. This taught me how to work with people from all different cultures and backgrounds. It helped me to work on my communication skills and tailor it to any situation when talking to insurance representatives to make sure I received the correct information. The are several things I enjoyed about the job but the ability to walk away from my desk to get a break was good.

As other reviewies there's no room for growth unless the manager and the staff know each other outside of work, from working together previously or because of "favoritism" you can be qualified to do the job and not get promoted or move up in a position unless you're "cool" with management.. I guess being qualified don't mean anything as long as you "know" the person in management, you get all the perks of not being fired while breaking the rules because it doesn't "apply" to them because of the relationship they have with management and management not separating the "friendship" and "management" titles during working hours. Certain staff get away with things others get written up for or fired for if you're not with the "in crowd" you get outcasted. If you speak with the manager about certain things it gets brushed off or they tell you "take care of it" or they let the staff know you spoke to them about something regarding said staff... Not being able to have anyone advocate for you when being disrespected by staff or even patients because the patients "are always right".  Even when when being disrespected makes us look like fools and like we're bad employee's is embarrassing and  it's disheartening to see people with good work ethic be put at the bottom, treated like an outcast while those who do "just enough" work get promoted and get raises...and we're "stuck" in such a place with barely any options because the job market really isn't good or appreciative..

Working at this company has had its ups and downs, especially considering the challenges brought by COVID-19.

A Typical Day at Work (2 stars ⭐⭐):
A typical day at work involves managing regulatory compliance tasks, which can be quite demanding. The workload increased during the pandemic, making work-life balance a bit challenging.

What I Believe I've Learned (3 stars ⭐⭐⭐):
I've learned a lot about regulatory compliance and adapting to changing circumstances, especially with the impact of COVID-19. It's been a valuable learning experience.

Management (2 stars ⭐⭐):
Management could be more supportive and communicative during these uncertain times. Clearer guidance and better support during the pandemic would have been appreciated.

Workplace Culture (3 stars ⭐⭐⭐):
The workplace culture is generally positive, with colleagues who are willing to collaborate and help when needed. However, remote work due to COVID-19 has impacted team dynamics.

The Hardest Part of the Job (2 stars ⭐⭐):
The most challenging aspect has been managing increased workloads and adapting to remote work during the pandemic. It has added stress to an already demanding role.

The Most Enjoyable Part of the Job (3 stars ⭐⭐⭐):
Despite the challenges, there are enjoyable aspects, such as the opportunity to learn and grow in the regulatory field. Also, the company has made efforts to support employees during these uncertain times.

A typical day at work is knowing my job duties clock in and go straight to work. We have an 8:30 huddle, with mandatory nurse meetings every third Wednesday of the month. I have learned a great deal of things that are required of my job and have not regretted anything about my position. My Manager is fairly new, and I'm a bit shy so if needed she is approachable but its best to learn with your own eye and not by what others have to say. There is nothing hard about my job at all, I love everything thing I do as long as your not being taken advantage of. And what's enjoyable about my job, is just the fact that I am part of the U of R. It's always been a dream to work in a hospital but I never thought that my dream would come true, so this is something that I cherish from the heart. The culture is somewhat diverse,  but exceptable and kind of tough/stressful but I try very hard adapt to it. With that being said there are some/certain challenges that are faced at the job but it has nothing to do with my job performance or whats expected of me at all, I'm just praying for a change and room for growth that may not be able to happen with me being a Medical Assistant and most responsibility lie in the hands of or LPN's. Thats why I am hoping that someday I will be able to get into the hospital whereas there is plenty of room for growth and challenges.

A typical day at work would involve getting right to work in the laboratory and might include an impromptu or regularly scheduled lab meeting at a moment's notice. In the lab, a work day was almost never exactly eight hours long; it could be as short as five hours or as long as 14 depending on which tasks needed to be accomplished that day. The particular lab's culture was very relaxed and laid back when compared to many others' at the university.  The hardest part of the job was sometimes communicating effectively with management rather than any of the tasks though I occasionally did consider some of the tasks to be beyond my skill level and pay grade, (such as those demanding a working knowledge of advanced math). By far, the most enjoyable parts of the job were executing many of the experiments with some degree of independence, producing quality substances that had to be relatively pure in order for the next part of the experiment to work well, and working with a culturally diverse array of interesting, humorous, and intelligent people.

A typical day consists of complex calendar management, producing international mapping for each location of travel, producing itineraries and other documentation pre- and post-travel, providing research in OASIS database for each alumni visited, setting up small and large meetings, preparing mailings for events, choosing and providing literature for each trip relative to people being visited.  I have learned about raising funds for an educational institution and what each fundraiser that does this requires for support.  I have also learned about OASIS software and reporting, which can be very complex.  Management of my position is difficult as the expectations changed after hire to include three more fundraisers beyond what I was originally hired for.  Co-workers pleasant and helpful and very busy in their positions as I am.  Hard part of the job is being overwhelmed and unable to manage the stress involved in day-to-day expectations.  I enjoy learning international facts, calendar work, financial reimbursement work, and co-workers.

At URMC outpatients physical therapy, the emphasis on clinical emphasis and learning is definitely front and center. There are monthly department lectures often collaborating with faculty physicians, and plenty of opportunities to participate in this. Additionally there are quarterly symposia which focus on research updates and improving clinical practice. Opportunities to specialize in clinical care of certain populations are available by joining care teams for spine, knee, shoulder, foot/ankle, concussion, etc. Con-ed is supported financially and encouraged. Most clinicians are top notch, evidence-based. The department managers are supportive and go out of their way to be flexible, support their staff. Productivity is generally reasonable but managing one's schedule can be challenging due to high patient volume (16-22 in a 10 hour day), generally unpredictable show-rates, and walk-ins. Financial compensation is not where it needs to be though benefits are good. Overall a good place to work because of the personnel, clinical focus over numbers. Challenging due to unpredictable scheduling and lots of patients.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 8 salaries reported	$40.38 per hour
Laboratory technician 1 salary reported	$28.00 per hour
Patient care technician 7 salaries reported	$18.68 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 4 salaries reported	$28.45 per hour
Technician 8 salaries reported	$19.90 per hour

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