Cook Childrens Medical Center

Keep in mind that I only worked in the pharmacy there, but Cooks is a wonderful place to work! They really care about their employees (as evidenced by time off, bonuses, gifts throughout the year, and Christmas parties). Most all of the employees are friendly and helpful, the cafeteria food is great, and the atmosphere is fabulous! I only quit because I needed to turn my attention to getting in to nursing school and some other stuff that came up in my life. If I though I wanted to work with Children as a nurse, I would go back.

Hope that helps!

Just a opinion as a mother of many children that have been to Cooks ( I am also a nurse) ... Cooks is viewed in the community as the place to be if your kid is sick. It is well respected and I have had nothing but great experiences there. I know several nurses that work there and love it. Me personally ,I cant work with children cause I cant stand to see them hurt , in pain or especially dying. However, if I ever decided to work with children Cooks is the first place I would go.

I only worked there for a short period of time and then also needed to leave so I could turn my focus to getting into nursing school. But I will say it was a WONDERFUL place to work! Sure, you have some people that aren't friendly, but you get that anywhere. Almost everyone you run across is very nice and helpful....nurses, pharmacy, doctors, RT, etc. All pretty nice folks to be around.

I really think the corporate culture of that hospital system creates a synergy that you don't find in many large organizations. When you work there, it's like you want to do better. You WANT to pitch in extra to help.

I can't tell you how it compares in terms of other hospitals b/c I'm not a nurse yet and haven't checked around much. But if you want to work in Peds, it's the place to be. They do have a great cafeteria and wonderful support services for their staff, patients and the families. Hope that helps!

Cook is an hospital that thinks it's the only game in town (which for Peds/Neo it is in some ways because of a series of non-competition clauses it has forced on its doctors). They treat their nurses like they are just lucky to be working there. Your insurance will cost 700+ a month for family coverage, you will be expendable, your pay will be less, and like most new grads there, you will probably get fed up and leave after 2 to 3 years. Cook
cycles through an enormous amount of new grads each year because they can get you on the cheap and you don't know the difference when it comes to working conditions and pay scale. The reason why they have to do that is that experienced nurses leave them in droves for better working conditions, nurse-patient ratios and pay. That said, there is that elusive and somewhat meaningless, "prestige" factor, the docs and bedside nurses are excellent, and the facilities are pretty. The management is terrible.

Harris is remarkable for the number of nurses I've met and work with that worked there and hated it. I also was not impressed. More work, less pay, I decided it wasn't worth it.

One of my good friends got hired there as a GN in December and she LOVES it. She is always talking about how great it is and how much she loves her coworkers. I don't have any experience personally but if Peds is what you want to do it seems like Cook would be the place to start. Good luck with your interviewing!