registered nurse

nurse technician

nursing assistant

clinic manager

medical assistant

University of Tennessee Medical Center

When I started at UTMC, I was so excited to work at an academic medical center that was also Magnet. What I learned is that you are expected to sit on committees, attend multiple meetings, and do extra projects for little-to-no compensation. All in the name of “leadership development” and maintaining a Magnet status that helps make the hospital money off the backs of the employees who are compensated poorly for their efforts, if at all.

Work-life balance is non-existent, especially in procedural areas where management and administration do a poor job of setting and maintaining boundaries with surgeons. You will be expected to come and go as the procedural areas deem necessary on a daily basis, and the rules of what is acceptable will change frequently. 

Benefits are expensive and it’s difficult to get a day off for a doctor’s or dentist appointment unless it’s planned months in advance. 

There is way too much management and administration. In the small day surgery department alone there were 4 different managers, 3-4 team leaders, plus administrators. All management will always be too busy to help with actual patient care or solve real issues that affect nursing or patients because there will be a meeting that they “cannot miss”. Tons of “leadership” that are supposed to be hired based on a Magnet status that focuses on skill, competence, and education; but seem to be hired based on administrators convenience and popularity among the oversized management team. Hiring practices are not always ethical at UTMC. 

Professional atmosphere for patient placement to the hospital and placing in correct status for adission.  Constant phone line and computer use.  My colleagues all within cubicles and working individually.  I began the at the bottom or the beginning of the creation of this area and navigated with others in the department to develop profesional work atmosphere and compliance with the paper work and coding of services on the front end of the patients admission to the hospital.  Also talked with doctors and their offices for direct admission to the hospital.  Also dealth with the air service for transfer of patients from other facilities as well as onscene admissions.   It was a rewarding job but very stressful.  I did this for 10 years and the area began an 8 hour a day job  and grew in the open 24 hours as a day.  It  became an area with high turn over of employees.  Before working in patient placement I was a staff nurse at UT Hospital both in the acute care area for 2 years and then I transferred to CCU and worked in  the units for 12 years.  I transferred to the call center within UT for 1 year.  In the call center I answered for OBGYN, Pediatric and Internal Medicine doctor offices.

This company was a very competitive with salary and benefits. Received incentives when goals were meet and procedures followed. It was a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere which allowed workflow to run efficiently. This was a very great company to work for in allowing employees to further their education through  financial aid assistance, if requirements were met. Fair compensation along with great benefits were offered to each employee after a 90 day period. They offered a broad spectrum of benefits to cover each employees needs . Another great perk was once an employee worked a certain amount of hours, they were eligible to apply and transfer to any department within the company should they choose. 

I certainly enjoyed my time with The University Tennessee Medical Center and would suggest to any qualified individual that maybe interested, to apply and work for them.

UTMC Pharmacy department has everything it needs to be a great place to work. That being said, it is absolutely the worst place I’ve ever worked. Management is not in touch with day to day activities, and they are unable to be effective leaders because of this. The “it’s not my job” attitude from dayshift is so toxic and hinders patient care daily. Management has been made aware of the situation and yet it continues. They have lots of policies in place to change things that don’t work, but the people with good ideas don’t get the support they need to implement changes. There are some really great team members that work here who Leadership refuses to recognize and utilize and it’s a shame. The tech supervisors are manipulative and will promise you training in other areas if you do what they want, only to make excuses and deny you the training once you’ve done what they want. Could be a great place to work if management were to change, but as it is, I do not recommend. Also the pay is terrible for such a “prestigious” institution. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The leadership cares for the employees, strives to serve the community and anticipates the needs of the community, while continually trying to improve processes and outcomes. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Healthcare in general is stressful. Having enough workers to serve the needs is always stressful, especially since Covid. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It is a big place to work but there is a sense of pride and a team atmosphere. The organization focuses on quality and safety and strives for information sharing and communication among everyone. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
As an Executive leader, days vary drastically but each day is met with a sense of adventure working with the best Imaging Technologists, Nurses, Endoscopy staff, Physicians and other staff around. It takes us all to be successful. Each day I learn something new and everyday is different depending on the opportunities of the day.

Work-life balance
I worked in the CM role and you are on call. You do not receive call pay - salaried position.  CM called for non-urgent issues.  Expect to work more than 40 hours a week.  Lots of vacation time but only 2 allowed off at a time.  If you are new, good luck getting time off.  The department is a revolving door.

Pay & benefits
Earn over 20 hours of vacation a month but unable to take time off.  Low pay, salary and expect overtime.

Management
Some folks in CM dept buying their own office equipment such as an office chair and supplies.  Electronic equipment such as laptop and cell phone dated.

Culture
Nurses very nice and easy to work with - manager a bully. Heard yelling at employees in her office.

Overall
I was drawn to UTMCK bc of the magnet status with hopes it would be a great place for a nurse to work.  In the CM dept, the workload is heavy, salaried with overtime, no call pay, and difficult to get time off.  After 7 days of call, you are comped 2 days off but doesn’t equal out - expect calls all hours of the night and to come in on the weekend to work.  Equipment antiquated.

I worked MedSurg ancillary registry and so i saw many units across the whole campus at UT. I met so many hardworking and seriously dedicated people while i worked there. Every person was so professional and focused on caring for patients. I only met one RN and only one CNA that had negative attitudes and bad vibes. Out of thousands of employees. Most everyone i met was willing to share knowledge with me and the most impressive part was that they all put their heart into their jobs. I did not meet a single person that was not in school or working towards more degrees or extra credentials. truly an amazing place to work. The only downfall ever was how short staffed i worked on a regular basis. It seemed the more we all managed to get through a shift with far too little help... the more they expected us to continue working very short staffed. Staffing people were great and professional  all the time  and i never heard them say a negative word ever. I loved my time at UT. I hope to work as an RN there oneday soon!. almost there.

For the first couple years of working for UT I fell in love with everything and everyone. It was a great place, we were a team, and our management had our backs. They then had a change in management in my department and it went down hill quick. It’s now all about “customer satisfaction” and not about the safety of the staff. I have seen more people injured in the last year then I have ever before. I miss when we were a hospital that was known for our teamwork and truly saving lives because of it. I used to think there was nothing we couldn’t handle and now I don’t think they can handle much of anything. It’s a very high stress and hectic environment. Management will just complain that things aren’t done and it all about the numbers. I wish they would get back to their roots and get back to the greatness that they used to be. It used to be what I called my forever home and now I am getting ready to start a new job at a new hospital.

Working in the pharmacy was the most horrific place I have ever worked in my entire life.  The amount of negativity is awful.  The staff that has been there for a while are in a clique and will make your life a living nightmare.  It’s like being in high school all over again.  Day shift doesn’t do anything, so when 2nd shift comes in you do it all with the least amount of help.  Seven people left when I was there, obviously the turnover is awful.  When I pulled in the parking lot everyday I wanted to just leave and never come back.  The management promises all these things when you first get hired but they never happened.  Lies, it’s all lies.  You will absolutely regret it if you work in the pharmacy department.  The management has favorites and they get picked to do stuff they have no idea how to do over someone that has a lot of experience.  This department seriously needs to recognize why they have such a high turnover rate, and the answer is to look at your supervisors and management.

When you are hired training is poor, management is a joke, pay is way lower than other facilities in the area. The benefits at one time was good however, they get cut down more every year. Medical which is Cigna will not cover any procedure even if medical necessity has been met. The pharmacy insurance gets worse every year as well. The dental insurance won't pay if you have more than 1 dental filling in 2 years. I thought it was a great place at first but, I've seen many changes in recent years. They DO NOT value employees or their patients either. They force employees to work sick and then it spreads throughout the whole department and of course affects patients who are sick with lowered immune systems. I do not recommend working there at all. They do not offer paid holidays. If your building is closed on a holiday they steal your paid time off to pay you on that day.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 67 salaries reported	$27.07 per hour
Nurse technician 23 salaries reported	$14.11 per hour
Nursing assistant 20 salaries reported	$11.89 per hour
Clinic manager 9 salaries reported	$110,000 per year
Medical assistant 6 salaries reported	$14.25 per hour

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