Cleveland Clinic

U.S.A. Ohio

Published

Hi. I was wondering if anyone can give me some info on the Cleveland Clinic. Do you enjoy working there? Do they have a sign on bonus. What are the patient ratios like? Thanks so much.

Specializes in OR.

Anyone work in the operating room at Cleveland Clinic? Any information would be appreciated! Thanks.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Pros--Name looks good on your resume.

you will learn alot.

Good support teams (if available) example--lift teams, IV Start team

Electronic charting

Cons--Main campus will eat you up so if you accept a position there make sure you have tough tough skin.

Rotating shifts: 2 weeks nights, 2 weeks days.

Parking is a nightmare.

Points & being disciplined if you punch in more than 7 minutes before/after shift.

RATIOS ARE HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Especially nights--7 pts is the norm.

If you are a person who needs to drink more than 10oz or eat more than 2 graham crackers in a 12-13 hour shift then this probably isnt the place for you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CVSU, MICU/SICU, CCU.

I worked at the main campus of CCF. Oops, no longer a foundation! I was there for 8yrs. It was a rough place to work, high patient acuity!! The sickest of the sick go there, the last chance for some patients! The parking is horiffic and expensive. I enjoyed my time there, but now its a time to move onward.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CVSU, MICU/SICU, CCU.

I worked at the main campus of CCF. Oops, no longer a foundation! I was there for 8yrs. It was a rough place to work, high patient acuity!! The sickest of the sick go there, the last chance for some patients! The parking is horiffic and expensive. I enjoyed my time there, but now its a time to move onward.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Neuro ICU.

Do the specialties/ ICUs wear white as well (sorry to beat this topic to death... I have just never heard of ALL white!)

What is the nurse to patient ratio in ICUs?

If an organ donor patient or on prisma... are those patients one to one ratio?

Any feedback on their neuro ICU? (Staff, management, docs?)

Thank you!:p

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CVSU, MICU/SICU, CCU.

All professional staff (RN/LPN) wear white. They liked to keep the ratio 2:1 but at times it can be 3:1. They try to keep the VADS 1:1 but CVVHD is usually paired up. There is not much there that is 1:1.

Most of the Docs are ego centered no matter where you go. If you are tough skinned and knowledgeable in your area, you usually don't have too many problems.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I currently work at the Cleveland Clinic main campus as a PCNA (patient care nursing assistant) and I can't say I LOVE my job but I don't hate it either. ALL RNs & LPNs wear ALL white (I wear hunter green). You will almost always be placed on rotating days/nights except in cases with seniority. On my floor, the RNs/LPNs will usually have a PCNA paired with them because some of them like to take advantage of us :madface: A majority of the staff that I work with are extremely nice and willing to lend a hand while some do not. The patient ratio varies - we can have as little as 7 and as many as 12. Parking is indeed a nightmare and you have to pay for it and the amount you pay varies on how many shifts you work/week and whether or not you're a weekend-only employee. I currently pay $50/mo. while the most is $55. Weekenders pay $30-$35 but it also depends on how many shifts you work. Cleveland traffic is ridiculous, too...I miss the morning traffic because generally that's from 7-8am and rush hour (which is also ridiculous) is from 5-6pm. The main campus is HUGE, almost too huge...and you will get lost for your first couple of weeks. Orientation for PCNAs is 2 weeks long, Monday through Friday where you sit getting read to for 8 hours/day and I'm sure the RN/LPN orientation is similar. At least it's paid! Cleveland Clinic also runs on "points" and if you accumulate a certain number of them you will face termination. When you are hired, you are on probation for 90 days and you can only accumulate up to 5 points (I think it also depends on how many shifts you work...I'm currently working 3 12's week but I'm PRN). After 90 days, it depends on how many shifts you work. Once I go back to school, I can only afford to work one shift/week, so I can have up to 12 points. If you call off on a day you are scheduled to work, it is considered UTO (unscheduled time off) and can be PTO (paid time off) if you have that benefit, but UTO will cost you 4 points :| Tardies are 1 point and you can accumulate points if you clock in more than 7 minutes before/after your shift. Oh, and if your schedule says 7-7 plan on being there 7-7:30 but you can clock out at 7:23...at least on my floor that's how it works with PCNAs, HUCs, RNs & LPNs.

If I can think of anything else, I will let you know.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hi,

I worked at CCF for a year, but not as a nurse (though I am school to be one). I worked in the radiology film library at the main campus. When I was there (2007-2008), I was a full time, third shift employee. I had to pay $17.50 every pay (two weeks) for parking, but because I was 3rd shift, I could park anywhere. On the rare occassion that I was there in the day, parking is impossible. And you will rue the day you were born if you ever get stuck in traffic when they are doing construction up there, like when they were working on Euclid. Literally, it took me about 8 minutes to get home most days, but that day, it took me an hour and a half!!! Most nights, I was lucky enough to park right in front of my building (A) without problems. However, one day, I did get a parking ticket, which I got out of by appealing it.

A friend of mine is a nurse there and she was started at $23.50 & she has a BSN, however, as an associate degree student, I was curious, so I had her find out for me. At that time, she said that the clinic did not differentiate between ADN and BSN nurses for pay purposes.

The size of the campus is enormous & kind of confusing. I got to work my first day with 40 minutes to spare and got lost on the skyway, had to call for directions & made it five minutes before my shift started. The worst part was that I went to the front entrance of the A building, which was locked because it was 3rd shift & no one in HR bothered to tell me how to get in!! Luckily, I am smarter than the average bear, so rather than stand there and look dumb, I went through the Intercontinental Hotel's skyway entrance. Make sure you think to ask these sorts of questions, because they won't volunteer the info. Of course, if you do park in the garage, this won't be an issue.

As far as the white..yes, they all do wear white. It's kind of boring.

I really hate jobs with PTO point systems. For one thing, they penalize you for using your PTO on sick days. If you schedule PTO in advance, you don't get points. But how the heck are you supposed to schedule a sick day?? And isn't that what PTO is for (well, that and vacation)?That said, most jobs do that, even though it's completely backwards. I would say though that the Cleveland Clinic has a pretty lax policy, only because there is a series of disciplinary steps. If you pass 18 points (for full timers), you get a warning ( and after 9 more, you go to the next, and then if you get more than 9 after that, you get terminated). Trust me, it takes a LOT of absences (because they count things like this--Say you miss three days for the same reason-- it won't be three days worth of points...iit would be one occurrence & only one day's points) and tardies to get to that point. At least that is how it was when I was there. Only if you miss three (or maybe it was five) days or more do you need a doctor's note.

Now, here is the kicker & pretty much why I left. When I started, the policy was that if it was your holiday to work (everyone in my department got 1 a year, two if necessary),mine was Thanksgiving, then you would come in by yourself (which was possible in my department) and work that night while everyone else on your shift had off. Fine-no problem there. However, what upset our whole department was the fact that all of a sudden on the fourth of July, our supervisor sent out a message changing it up. If you were off on a holiday, you didn't get the day of the holiday off, you got the day before off & you worked the holiday. The person whose holiday it actually was would work both the day of and the day before. Apparently, this was the clinic's policy, but our department had done it differently for years apparently and just as fourth of July came up, finally started to follow policy (which sucked for me, because I was supposed to have the 4th off & had paid outrageous amounts of $ for fireworks and a party that I didn't get to enjoy). For one, why would they have that policy when the other system worked just fine. Why would anyone want the day BEFORE the 4th of July off????? Or any holiday for that matter. So, a word of caution---if you don't want messed up holidays--don't work third! Unless they have changed it!

Other than that and my annoying supervisor who didn't do her work & told me all about her bf giving her herpes, it was a good place to work. I got two free Cedar Point tickets, $20 extra tickets, tuition reimbursement, etc. The family christmas thing was nice too. The benefits are also worth it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

so... question..

I have an interview on monday.. yay me! :D `&& I was wondering what is the pay rate

or hourly pay for PCNA's ?

And I must say I really hate the fact we must wear the green uniforms only.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I started there as a aide when I was in nursing school (this was 4 1/2 years ago). I want to say I made around $10/hour (+$1/hour for nights).

Up Vote Up Vote ×

After reading this thread I'm scared about my phone interview with CC! A lot of people are making CC out to be kind of scary. Anyone have any encouraging advice? :) I'm not the most confidant of nurses, as I'm a new grad, but in this job market it seems like you have to take what you can get, so I feel obligated to take this job if offered, or face not having enough money to survive...I'm interviewing for the internal medicine/telemetry floor at the main campus.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
After reading this thread I'm scared about my phone interview with CC! A lot of people are making CC out to be kind of scary. Anyone have any encouraging advice? :) I'm not the most confidant of nurses, as I'm a new grad, but in this job market it seems like you have to take what you can get, so I feel obligated to take this job if offered, or face not having enough money to survive...I'm interviewing for the internal medicine/telemetry floor at the main campus.

Don't be scared. The only reason I left the Clinic is because I moved out of state. Most of the people I used to work with in one of the ICUs are still there. There are down sides of it, but there are down sides of working in any type of hospital. Especially as a new grad, it will give you good experience, and at the very least will look good on your resume. As a new grad, don't be afraid to ask for help/advice, but also don't be afraid to trust yourself and your skills.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment