licensed practical nurse

policy analyst

epidemiologist

plant operator

nurse clinician

Wisconsin Department of Health Services

PROS: DHS is absolutely mammoth, particularly if you are at 1 West Wilson (headquarters in Madison). That sounds like a minus, but in reality, it means there are many opportunities to try out not just different places to work, but different types of work. Whether you want a relatively narrowly-focused job, where you can become quite expert in one specific are, or you want more more of a program manager job where you are responsible for everything from budgets to training to building a statewide strategy — there’s something here for you.

CONS: 1) The building itself — it is beautiful, with lots of Art Deco details. And it’s hard not to walk the halls and imagine the thousands who came before you. But those few advantages come with a host of disadvantages that were frustrating before Covid and are deeply unsettling now. The building’s plumbing is ancient, and the water, while it may technically be legally safe to drink, is discolored and smells bad. There are nowhere near enough bathrooms, and the ones there are, are very crowded. Everyone works in huge rooms divided up into dozens upon dozens of cubicles; there are even some Bureau directors (high level managers) who do not have offices with a door. This means work is frequently noisy, with little to no privacy, and any germ that gets a toe in takes off like a rocket. 2) Current HR policy is that at least one reference must come from your current supervisor, no exceptions. So there is no way to apply for a new job without your current supervisor finding out — and after all that, you still may not get the job.  Then you have burned a bridge with your current supervisor, to no good purpose in the end.

This position was, undoubtedly, the best position I have ever held.  I thoroughly enjoyed the energy of the Department; the culture in which innovative and creative ideas and approaches were encouraged and implemented; the challenge of new projects designed to better the delivery of our services to the citizenry of the State of Wisconsin.

Departmental employees were urged to continue their education, to move "up the ladder", a singularly unique approach in a governmental environment.  As a result, employees were enthusiastic, personable, and an overall joy to work with and for.

Obviously, however, the stereotypical challenges of working in a state governmental agency, subject to the political influences of any state, presented opportunities to meet unexpected obstacles.  Fortunately, the Secretary fostered a workplace in which such opportunities presented the chance for employees to work in an environment in which hard work and dedication to our clients was most appreciated.

If you’re single with no kids this job would be good for you. Mandatory overtime varies from 2 times a month to 2-3 times a week depending how staffed we are at the time. There’s always overtime to pick up if you’re someone who likes it. But there are times where you’re told 10 minutes before your shift is done that you have to stay the next 8 hours and you can’t say no or you are written up. You can find people to take it though but sometimes no one wants it. That really is the worst thing about the job. They don’t care about people’s lives. If you have school the next day that isn’t an excuse. The only time you can say no is if there’s a doctors appointment in that time. There is drama but if you stay out of it you’re fine. Get lots of paid time off ( roughly 26 days a year) and you get about half of that when you first start and the other half after 6 months. Pays really good for how easy of a job it is. Usually 8 residents to two CNAs. Every third weekend off so only one a month and you have to work holidays there’s no type of rotation of those. Schedule isn’t flexible

My time at DHS was one of the best work experiences I have had. I felt consitently supported and valued by management, and my wellbeing was prioritized while working in COVID response with a significant amount of emotional toll. My managers knew me as an individual as well as an employee, and did their best to provide individualized support and guidance when it was needed. I felt that DHS hired the right people to be managers, and also supported them so they could better support us. I also felt as if there was a clear chain of command and leadership that functioned well and improved communication significantly. I was able to have a flexible schedule that accomodated appointments or days off. And with that, I felt like my time was respected and there was never any expectation for overtime or early/late hours. I had the chance to participate in different areas of public health and I learned a lot. 

Job security is great at DHS; however the path to advancement is not great. To advance, you basically need to change/leave your current position. Being the State, change at DHS generally moves slowly. This means a pretty static work environment where there isn't much room/time for innovation or process improvement. All that said, my managers and coworkers were wonderful and our unit bucked (and I presume still does) the State trend of being slow to change, constantly looking for innovative solutions to everyday inefficiencies and process hold-ups. I would recommend DHS as a secure place to work with a great work-life balance. I would not recommend it if you are looking for a work environment where you can flex your creative/problem-solving skills on a daily basis or if you want rapid advancement.

When I first started at DHS the goal was to help as many people as possible to have access to healthcare.  I actually felt I was part of something good, but that all changed when the administration changed.  The new directive was to get as many people off of "Entitlement Programs".

I don't know how some of the people working there could just switch gears and happily come up with ways to reduce programs and coverage.  The whole place is over-staffed with many people spending long hours each day on social media.  I guess if you want a job where you can be an anonymous cog in the beauracracy this is a great place to work.  Just do enough to look busy and you'll get a promotion to a job where you sit in meetings all and do even less actual work.

Overall, I've been happy with my time at DHS.  I've found the pay, benefits, and management to be great. I love leaving at 4:30 and not thinking about work afterwards/on the weekends. If you need a change, DHS is big enough there's lots of new opportunities.  The negatives are the parking situation.  There's a 6-8 year waitlist to park at the Monona Terrace.  I've also found the culture somewhat depressing (the building doesn't help).  It's pretty common to walk down the hall, make eye contact with someone, and they immediately look down.  People just look sad and depressed.  That being said, there's also lots of great people!  One thing I hope DHS finally gets is good drinking water.  Most people pay to join a water club because the water is so gross.  And our kitchens, well, we have to use the janitor's closets because that's all we have.

Brand new nurses fresh out of college are starting at a higher wage (sometimes $5 and hour more) than nurses who have been employed by the state for 10 years. 
The State does not value experience or loyalty and we have been told that the ONLY way to get a raise is to apply for jobs elsewhere, get an offer from another company and present that offer to them- at that point they can decide if they want to match it or not.. 
Management is completely disconnected from the floor staff and it shows. 
The buildings are old and dirty but the state won’t properly pay cleaning staff either. 
Psychiatric patients are difficult so if you like psych and are up for a challenge you can learn a lot by working at MMHI, unfortunately you’ll figure out really quickly that everything I said above is true.

Most coworkers were great, had to leave Office of Health Informatics due to bullying by my manager and colleague. Could have been pleasant if it weren't for the petty and vindictive management. 

The pettiness actually got to the point of my manager actively making it impossible for me to do my job and acting like a snarky teenage girl only to act dumbfounded when I walked out. They even tried to make me do work for them after I left and continued harassing me. Ultimately I had to threaten legal action to make them finally leave me alone. Pitiful and shameless. They have no honor. 

I would not recommend working at DHS within OHI/HAS unless you like boredom, bullying, and stagnation.

My workplace is the typical office setting with cubicles, it's a friendly environment. I've learned to work several data bases, and the many areas the Health Services provides support and assistance while working with public and private businesses regarding their needs for services we provide. Our work place is diverse in culture so I've gotten to know many different outlooks that my co-workers have on ideals that differ from mine. The hardest part of any job is correcting others errors in a data base for me. The most enjoyable part of my job is working with the different people I work with, learning new ways of looking at getting things done.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Licensed practical nurse 8 salaries reported	$24.99 per hour
Policy analyst 5 salaries reported	$73,440 per year
Epidemiologist 3 salaries reported	$41.23 per hour
Plant operator 7 salaries reported	$22.09 per hour
Nurse clinician 8 salaries reported	$35.38 per hour

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