Anybody regret going to Kaiser?

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I might have an offer at Kaiser, but am worried about burning a bridge at my current hospital, where I've been working for only one month. It seems like Kaiser nurses are, in general, a little disgruntled, but stay for the high wages and benefits.

My current hospital has happy nurses, good support in terms of CNAs, lines team, lift team, etc, but I am stuck on night shift and have already figured out that night shift is not for me. Pay is a tiny bit lower than Kaiser, but I don't really care about that.

Kaiser nurses want to weigh in? This is Nor Cal, BTW.

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Specializes in ER, Pre-Op, PACU.

One thing that I want to bring up is money isn’t everything. Sometimes benefits are depending on life circumstances. If things are relatively good at your current hospital, I would try to stick there a little longer and get the experience before you make your move. I definitely understand the night shift dilemma but sometimes you can also go from the fire to the frying pan....so to speak.

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54 minutes ago, speedynurse said:

One thing that I want to bring up is money isn’t everything. Sometimes benefits are depending on life circumstances. If things are relatively good at your current hospital, I would try to stick there a little longer and get the experience before you make your move. I definitely understand the night shift dilemma but sometimes you can also go from the fire to the frying pan....so to speak.

Are you speaking specifically of Kaiser, or just generally? I absolutely agree that money isn't everything...

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

I'm in  NorCal too but work as an NP so take my "observation" with a grain of salt. I work full time at an academic medical center and was working per diem at a Kaiser facility. The nurses seem happier in the academic medical center and has more support from management. There is less of nurses having to "stand their ground" in terms of being dumped on with unfair workload. Less "policing" of nurses' independent actions based on their own judgements. More of nurses being part of the decisions that impact patient care. Both are unionized and the pay is very similar actually.

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Specializes in retired LTC.

Kaiser has those obligatory hiring contracts, I believe.

Some recent posters have been very upset re those contracts.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med/Surg, ICU Stepdown.

I have never worked for Kaiser, but have friends who do. They are very happy with the pay but dislike the micromanagement. They have someone whose job is to monitor their charting in real time and call them to make corrections or add things! They said with all the documentation requirements they lose time for pt care, and some people just chart stuff they didn't do yet to get it over with and go see their pts.

Also, they were mistreated during covid in terms of PPE and other things, like Kaiser trying to waive the mandatory ratios. But, the California Nurses Union is very strong and seems to be constantly fighting back. Most of them it seems the pros outweigh the cons, at least for now, but I'm sure some people burn out, just like in any system. It's a matter of what you can tolerate I think, and of course every location and unit is different. If you got onto a unit with awesome teamwork it can make things way better, and you can laugh at the ridiculous management stuff together!

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Specializes in ER, Pre-Op, PACU.
On 3/23/2021 at 9:44 AM, MyAimIsTrue said:

Are you speaking specifically of Kaiser, or just generally? I absolutely agree that money isn't everything...

No I have never worked at Kaiser. I just know the town I work in, there are 3 major hospital systems....one pays great money but nurses seem generally very unhappy with their jobs, patient ratios, management, etc. Another healthcare system tends to be better in terms of nurse satisfaction but the pay is so so. The third has pretty lousy pay but had lots of learning opportunities.....I think it really does depend on what you are looking for. One thing I have learned is a lot of job satisfaction is about perspective. I think it takes only one miserable, toxic job to realize that an “just OK” job is much better than being miserable.

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