registered nurse

personal assistant

nursing assistant

nurse

physician assistant

WakeMed

I have had a long career in nursing. Wake Med was the absolute worst place I ever worked. I came to Wake with quite a lot of ER experience and looked forward to working in their ER/Trauma service. I was hired with a $10,000 sign on bonus. That bonus should have been a clue. Why did they have to offer so much to attract staff? I found out why. Nurses worked like dogs. There was no support staff. Nurses even had to transport their own patients--which meant leaving sick ones behind with really no one to check on them as every other nurse was way too busy taking care of their own patients to keep an eye on yours while you were away. There was a great culture of punishment there. People were always afraid of being "written up" and it did happen often. There were way too many supervisors in the ED. They all wore scrubs but rarely lifted a finger to do patient care. If the department was understaffed--they gladly jumped in by assuming the charge nurse role (which meant that the seasoned charge nurse got bumped) and the supervisor would then sit back and "direct." Heaven forbid he or she take a patient assignment. Daily assignments seemed to be based on favoritism.The same people worked the same assignments again and again. It was not competency based. Management in the ED was headed by a woman who held the job for years. She could never have even picked me out of a line up and certainly never knew me by name. Work/life boundaries were very poor. While I survived without ever getting "written up," I once annoyed one of the supervisors. I was called at home, on my day off while caring for my own kids to be scolded with another supervisor listening as a witness. I had done management prior to this job. Did they not know it is seen as harassment to call people at home for disciplinary issues? I certainly was not on the clock. Did they not realize that they were witnesses to their own inappropriate supervisory behavior? The acuity was high all the time. It was exhausting. Management also mislead me as a prospective hire. They require people to sign up for on call shifts. It was presented that on call people will be called and told to come to work "if needed." They did not say that the on call people are always needed. In fact--they are actually counted in the daily staffing. It really was not on call and was really mandatory overtime. I found coworkers really stressed. It was one of the worst jobs I ever had. I do have to add that I had, prior to this place, worked successfully in places like Shock-Trauma in Baltimore and had been a manager. I had over 15 years of experience at the time I took this job, My sign on bonus required me to stick around for 1 year. I quit the exact day I was able to do so. I left, shook the dust from my feet and never looked back. I left several years ago. I have no lasting anger at this place and the time distance from when I worked there until now reinforces in my mind that my opinions are objective now and not based on any intense, current resentment that might make this review more based on emotion rather than true experience and reflection.

Wake Med in general is not a bad place to work. Over the past 5 years however, the management culture has changed to a numbers driven, look good on paper competition between departments. Management does not seem to care what REALLY happens, or how patients are REALLY cared for, or how staff REALLY feels. The focus is on how things LOOK IN DOCUMENTATION.  Additionally,  attitutes towards staff nurses (meaning those who actually  DO the work) have become ridiculously punative for minor infractions (forgetting to chart one item or charting it outside of a unit mandated time, clocking in 5 minutes tardy or out 5 minutes late or venting frustations to a manager behind closed doors could earn a written disciplinary action or a blocked request for transfer to another shift or department or vengeful denials of requested PTO. At the same time, staff who arrive early, volunteer to decorate the bulletin board or audit charts, document assessments perfectly without doing them and neglect their patients because they play candy crush or watch movies on their phone somehow slip under the cracks) This has resulted in staff not feeling safe to report genuine concerns, falsely documenting the time care ACTUALLY took place, and just going through the motions necessary to keep their job. Also, some units are routinely understaffed and the staffing pool is poorly equipped and managed. Units often have to pull nurse techs to sit with mental health patients because the hospital is not prepared to handle the increasing volume of the underserved  psychiatric  population.  Management also fails to plan for the inevitably fluctuating staffing shortages that occur in the healthcare field...maternity leaves, illness, staff burnout and turnover. People who work so hard caring for sick people require more time off. Period. The long term cost of this culture will be immeasurable and patient care already has and will continue to suffer.

The larger the WakeMed health system gets, the worse the system gets.

There are too many managers and not enough workers. The focus is on expanding, and in the process, the existing services are suffering. The main campus Imaging Services department is old and run down with failing equipment that needs to be replaced/updated.

The management team is terrible. There has been constant management shifts with promotions given not based on qualifications, but on popularity. 4 out of 8 managers/directors are under 40. Most people don't even know who they are. They are always in meetings, making decisions without even considering the staff. They are completely uninvolved in day to day operations, and make poor decisions that staff have to deal with.

Some departments don't have supervisors, so these uninvolved managers are writing your annual evaluations. Some shifts don't even have supervisors, so the staff are left by themselves to make decisions they will be held accountable for. Yes there are supervisors "on-call" but sometimes you can't take the time to call someone because the decision needs to be made immediately. Management do not support or listen to employees. They are quick to pass the blame to save themselves. Some actions appear as if they are trying to make themselves look good, rather than asking/supporting staff needs. There is NO communciation.

Most departments are understaffed and are expected to do more with less. Patient safety is no longer important. Work life balance is non-existant. You are expected to stay to help if it's busy, and when it's not go home and use your PDOs to supplement your hours, or go without pay if you don't have any. There is no sense of belonging or real job satisfaction.

Bottom line: The management team makes this an unpleasant place to work. There is no sense of belonging, and there won't be. People can't feel like they are part of a team when you're overworked one minute and shoved out the door the next to make a "productivity number".

I really enjoyed working for WakeMed over the summer as a supply chain intern. WakeMed truly does strive to provide the right care to the right patients at the right time ever time, and they seem like a well oiled machine. It was a privilege to be interning under so many wonderful supervisors in the Materials processing and Strategic Sourcing Departments. I interned as a materials processing intern at the Cary WakeMed and my duties and responsibilities consisted of processing new inventory, delivering stock to different departments, cycle counting and restocking lines and sheets. As an intern with the Strategic sourcing department my duties consisted of a file updating project, which included scanning contract documents and maintaining and updating the excel file for this project. The skills I gained during this internship will take me far into my working career in the medical field as well as any job I choose to take on. I learned self-reliance skills such as being able to work independently, self awareness as well as people skills, problem solving, specialist skills, and IT skills as well. I really enjoyed working with the nurses, doctors, and the other employees within WakeMeds Hospital. It was neat to be in that fast pace and exciting environment, the only downside were the hours and being on my feet for so long.

During the recent snow storm my manager stated that the Wake Med policy states that employees are expected to make it to work during inclement weather.  Period.  After fish tailing in my car trying to get to work and feeling very unsafe, I called to tell my manager I would not be making it in, as it would be risking my safety to do so.  She reiterated the Wake Med policy and stated for me this meant I should have come to work a day early, 30 hours before my shift, as the snow storm was starting incidently, and slept on a cot provided by Wake Med, in order to report for work for an  8 hr evening shift the next day.  Because I went home after my previous shift 2 days ago and now feel unsafe driving to work today, I will face a penalty called a "double call out."   This is I'm told more lenient than Wake Med's previous policy of automatic disciplinary action for call outs during unsafe weather.  So if you are not willing to risk life and limb to get to work, or have a problem with arriving to work 30 hours before your shift without pay to sleep on a cot, and pay for all your meals in between and not see your family during these long time periods in order to report for your shift, and have your job security threatened because you are not willing to drive in unsafe conditions, I would not recommend you work at Wake Med.

I Provide support for the WakeMed Health & Hospitals Physician Practices with billing inquires and or reviews. Conduct follow-ups with patients to insure understanding of insurance and billing process. Provide patients with knowledge of the Charity Care Program, which aids with the payment and or payment options for their bills. Assist patients with setting monthly payment plans that are feasible for them, while upholding the hospitals standards for payments.) Responds to patient request/concerns via MyChart (e-mail portal for patients to access their accounts online.) Contact insurance carriers to verify patient’s health care coverage as well as obtaining authorizations for service. Serve as support with training and coaching of new employees within the department. Work in coordination with liability specialist reviewing and requesting liens from various third party payers.  Interface with other departments and provide information in reference to special collection accounts (i.e. deceased patients, bankruptcy and liability).Maintain knowledge of medical diagnosis, procedure coding, medical terminology and HIPPA compliant policies and procedures. Assist in developing, establishing, and maintaining standards practices and procedures for customer service and related functions.

I worked at Wake Med for three years.  Although I worked under a very tough manager, I thoroughly enjoyed working with my team.  Initially, I loved my job, but as time went on, team members became very back biting resulting in a lot of drama and a change in our upper management.  That was when things got really bad. The person they placed in charge was a complete and total loon.  That is when I decided it was time to move on.

Management's overall style was very archaic.  Very heavy at the top and understaffed at the bottom.  It was also a very authoritarian environment.  Staff members needed management approval for even  the slightest deviation of SOP.  Made staff members feel as if management did not think they were capable of making a sound decision.


Biggest cons of working at Wake Med:  little to no opportunity for advancement, the inability to use accrued PDO.  The reason I was always given for not being able to use the time I had earned was we were short staff.  Not only could I not use the time I had earned (a benefit), but I could not be paid for it either.  I always thought that sounded illegal.

Working as a clinical aide at WakeMed, I assist physical, occupational and speech therapists. I communicate effectively with nursing staff, therapists and patients on a daily basis. Every day I learn something new about the world of medicine, and patient care. WakeMed is a very diverse work environment and every employee exhibits the "Wake Way," meaning we embrace the differences in our cultures and accept people for who they are as individuals. WakeMed strives to provide excellent service to all patients, no matter what. I enjoy interacting with the patients and assisting in therapy treatments. In this job I have to multi-task a lot throughout the day. The hardest part of my job is accepting that I cannot be in two places at once, even though multiple therapists may need my help at the same time. That is why time management and planning are key factors to success in my job. Thankfully I have been able to master these two skills and in doing so I was designated to act as lead clinical aide. As the lead clinical aide, I assist the therapists in checking doctor's referrals as they come into the department and I organize the referrals to make it more efficient for the rehab therapists to see patients.

Coworkers aré great and we all complain about the same thing . We work literally like dogs especially because wake med is a revolving door. Give someone a month and they see how disgusting the higher ups are when it comes to respecting the people who work here that make this hospital . Then they can build all over the place and put new floors in and stuff but can’t give us hard working people that are suffering immensely financially a good raise and they took bonuses away . We are literally told that we are “ replaceable “ which makes you want to quit even more. I would not recommend working for this company . I have never worked at a hospital where the employees were treated like dirt on someone’s shoe that they can’t scrape off . You walk the halls and here nurses talk about quitting . Phlebotomist get paid barely anything for hard dedicated work they do . Sick of being treated like garbage and what do we get instead of a nice raise so we are begging churches and EAP for financial help ? We get a “ thank you “ letter !! Yea let me bring that to mt mortgage company and see if they will accept that as a payment . If you want to work somewhere that matter don’t come here . Unfortunately I am still here but I am hoping not much longer 

I never felt like I didn't want to go to work! I enjoyed the nature of the jobs I performed, and I enjoyed my co-workers. 

Learned the difference between sincere people and people who only want to collect a check and do not really want to earn it. 

My first manager was TERRIFIC! She lead by example. My second one was like a ghost. She only came around in the middle of the night and would close the door and use a desk lamp so we wouldn't know she was there. And, her electronic communication was no better. 

Fast paced environment and some staff are a little overworked. And, its a hospital so its hard sometimes to see people sick and or die. In addition, it takes a special demeanor to deal with highly emotional and sometimes irrational family members during tough and scary times like when their loved one is terminally ill or has passed away. 

I enjoyed the schedule (rotational and shift work), my co-workers and I learned a lot. The WakeWay Culture is more than just a cliché, most people demonstrated it in their work ethic and willingness to assist type of attitude.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 25 salaries reported	$43.48 per hour
Personal assistant 53 salaries reported	$70,000 per year
Nursing assistant 4 salaries reported	$18.25 per hour
Nurse 3 salaries reported	$38.67 per hour
Physician assistant 5 salaries reported	$107,186 per year

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