Rochester Regional or University of Rochester?

dianearc, BSN, RN · Jan 2, 2020

Hello, I have worked at both and they are both great hospitals in my opinion. RGH, at least on my floor had more of a family feel. Extremely busy but a family feel with coworkers. People were friendly & supportive. it’s a culture that’s truly driven in that institution, especially for newer nurses. & it is this friendly work environment, family feel reason that keep some nurses there despite the crazy workload. I left the place & still have some coworkers there that I talk to & meet up with. The work load and staffing ratio was the killer for me. Did not even match the pay rate. We had days where we’d have 7pts & the charge nurse would also have 7pts. I had no time to even sit or take a break, by the end of your 12hr shift, you’re wiped out. I guess it may be different in other floors like ICU where you’ll have 2pts. But my health and sanity needed to come first. Strong hospital on the other hand is bigger and will not give you that warm friendly family feel. It’s kind of expected, but I’m a transplant from NYC so I can handle a lot & still actually find them friendlier than Manhattan folks. I shadowed on a couple floors at strong prior to picking one and one thing I can say is that their nurse-patient ratios are WAY better than RGH. & this was important for me. Salary was better for me too & they also offer wknd contract & float positions if that’s something you’re looking for & those pay even more. This part of NY (Rochester/Western NY) in general, pays way less than say NYC or staten/Long Island/Brooklyn areas in NY . If you look it up you’ll notice it’s less than the national average & people will rave living cost all they want at me when I bring this up but regardless, ROCHESTER area pays low in general.

Strong pays a 90% tuition reimbursement for UoR & a 70% reimbursement if you’re going to other institutions like keuka or St. John Fisher. I’m not certain how much RGH reimburses but they also have tuition benefits. I hadn’t decided to look into going back to school when I worked there. I overheard from RNs there that RGH plans on giving 100% tuition reimbursement but this plan is not out yet & one might need to work for them for a certain time first and you might have to ask them. Health benefits seem to be the same at both institutions. But generally I feel that RGH may have more to offer to be more competitive. They both offer some type of housing loan (10k?) if you plan to purchase a home in a certain area and work for them for I believe 5yrs...I wasn’t interested in this but you can look more into it. Both institutions offer life insurance & 403b. RGH has FREE membership to their gym or a $25/month rate to LA fitness. I always went to their free gym. Strong has some gym on their campus but it’s $35 a month. I never go there my fiancé does. But they also have discounts to join the YMCA which is what I opted for.

overrall I just cared for my health & sanity and picked an institution that offers safe patient nurse ratios & better pay, (the benefits are just a bonus and I feel like they both have great benefits) otherwise if it wasn’t for my fiancé, our/his extremely well built life here and the house, I would be back in NYC lol. I love the energy there and the many many hospital options there. All the best as you decide which one you pick