Do you work at Loyola? Tell me about it!

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Specializes in Tele, ED/Pediatrics, CCU/MICU.

Hello,

I have been granted an interview for what I believe is a Tele/Cardiology position at Loyola (Loyola University Health System).... looks like a great hospital!

Do you work there, or know people who do? I made a post about Mt. Sinai as well... I'm trying to scope these places out, but I'm not yet in Chicago!

I'll ask the same questions I did about Mt. Sinai.....

-Do you like your coworkers, manager, etc?

-What is the area like around the hospital?

-How is the acuity/patient population?

-Would you recommend this hospital to a colleague?

Thanks for any and all responses!

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Hi! My mom works at Loyola as a Dialysis tech and she's been working there for 7 years. She loves it. They just opened a new building recently and it's lovely!! They keep on buiding new buildings so I can imagine their financials are in line. I don't have info on your other questions but I just interviewed for a PCT position and the nurse manager is super nice. Actually everyone on the floor seems very nice. Hopefully we both get the job!

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Specializes in Tele, ED/Pediatrics, CCU/MICU.

Well that's good news! If people stay at their jobs, it must mean something is right.

Do you know if "Tower 5" is the new building?

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Hi, I currently work on 5-tower at Loyola. What would you like to know? We have a 32-bed unit, all private rooms. Once you are off of orientation, you will be expected to care for 5-patients (sometimes, you luck out and only get 4 but it's RARE). The pt acuity level is very high on this unit and you will care for pt's who are post-heart/lung transplant., post angiogram (some with the sheaths still in, though this is rare), post CABG, post defibrillator insertion, post ablation procedures, etc. When the census is low, you will also take care of many general medical patients. Loyola offers 3-weeks vacation per year and 2-personal days. No matter what they promise you in recruitment, you will not have more than 3-sick days per year. If you use those 3-days, you WILL be written-up. The sick day policy is Draconian at best and if you find you have been too sick to work more than 3 days per year in the past, you would be best to look elsewhere.

All shifts are 12-hours long, from 7P-7A, or 7A-7P. If you choose to work the day shift, you have to rotate to nights for one month every now again. If you prefer not to rotate, you will have to work straight nights. They tell you that you will only have to work every 3rd weekend, but in reality, if we have low staffing, you will work more weekends than promised. Another thing the management likes to do is to schedule people for 1-day of a weekend (i.e. you work Saturday but not Sunday) instead of giving them the whole weekend off. When you request your vacation time (and it is approved), you will still be expected to work "YOUR" weekend if it falls during your approved vacation time. That means, even though you have been approved for your vacation, you will be expected to WORK on the weekend of your vacation if it falls on "YOUR" weekend. If you cannot come back from vacation to work your weekend, you will be expected to find somebody to "cover" for you and work your weekend.

Even though we are considered a "Progressive Care Unit" we have one (1) set of monitors that are at the FARRR end of the unit that displays only 16 of the 32 patients at a time.

Many things were not well-planned for this unit but the staff is great. The nurses really support each other and work well as a team.

Hope this helps! Not trying to be a drag, just trying to honest in my assessment of what you can expect. Trust me, I wish someone had told me beforehand! :)

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Specializes in Tele, ED/Pediatrics, CCU/MICU.

That was exactly what I was looking for... thank you! :)

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