I am applying for a scholarship (that would cover the bulk of my nursing school tuition) that is being offered though Kaiser Permanente of Southern California. In exchange for the award, I must commit to working for Kaiser for at least two years after graduation. Just wondering if there are any Kaiser nurses out there who would be interested/ willing to offer some insight as to what it is like to work for Kaiser? Do you love it? Hate it? Is this a deal with the devil ?!? What are your shifts like? Ratios? Do you feel your wages are fair? Are you able to work in your area of interest? How long have you been with Kaiser? Not even really sure what to ask- as I am just a student. Any input is always appreciated! Thanks alot!
-Jennifer
P.S. Sorry if this is a repetitive thread...tried to search past threads, but I never seem to have much luck.. :)
Specializes in Oncology/Haematology/Stem Cell Transplant, Med/Sur.
I agree the workload is heavy at kaiser especially on a med/surg floor. I found this to be the case at Kaiser San Fran & Kaiser Oakland.
Any nurses who have worked at these facilities agree yes or no?
If you are a Kaiser patient I believe you are well looked after world-wide. I even nursed a Kaiser patient back in Australia and they were taken care of by the Aussie system but their hospital stay was covered by kaiser - very impressive. :)
I'm a newbie to this site and I would like to respond to this post regarding working at Kaiser. I am a moniter technician at a Kaiser Hospital facility and right now I am in school for my BSN. I have been working with the Kaiser system for 4.5 years. I must say that working at Kaiser is good, as far as pay and benefits go. With the union, you get lots of vacation time, as well as personal time that will pretty much get approved always as long as you request it at least 2 weeks prior. Pay is good and raises are guaranteed (bc of union) and given almost 2x a year, once at around October for everyone and again when you hit a certain number of hours (I forget what the number is) and it just repeats everytime you hit the number. Insuarance is covered for and paid in full by the company, this includes health, dental, & vision. What's even better is that as an employee, you pay less for any services than anyone else would that is paying for their services. Now, there are also some added employee paid benefits to your retirement, that started last year.
As far as scheduling goes, they are not too flexible. Your schedule is set and is the same every month, so if you like consistency, then it is good for you, and if not, changing days is very simple as long as you have someone willing to switch with you. They pay for only 6 holidays which will be upped to 8 next year. Everyone at work is upset when the holidays come around bc our staffing office is very stingy on giving people holidays they want off. For instance, they may give you Christmas Eve off, but you will work Christmas day, depending on whether you work night or day, that will count as your one holiday you are "entitled" too. It is rare that you get both the eve and day off for winter holidays unless you put in for vacation which is due Feb/March of each year, so that sucks, but they do pay you 2.5x for worked holidays, so for the money hungry people, they don't care. For me, I prefer being able to enjoy a full holiday off with my bf, family, & friends. I also had to change my schedule for nursing school, and did not have an easy time with that bc I was working full-time and needed to change to part-time hours. They gave me the run around and I had to go to many different managers to just be able to present my case.
With your concerns about the workload, I would say that Kaiser is not very intensive at all. Up on Med/Surg & tele, I believe the ratio is 1 RN to 5 patients, but they have CNA's & LVN's. In DOU its 3:1 and ICU is 2:1 The ratios are set and everyone has a certain job that they are supposed to do, although we do have our hectic days... but personally, if I were to ever get sick, I would not go to Kaiser, at least not the branch that I work at anyhow. They don't have any real "knowledge" of what to do due to the lack of experience that the facility provides, but I guess if you are just coming in for a cold, or vaccines then it would be ok. Although I love my "most" my co-workers, many nurses are careless, lazy, egotistic and only working there for pay and benefits, and for whatever reason, nurses up in the LESS critical units tend to be worse in terms of ego then ICU nurses and their lack of knowledge will amaze you at times. If I really had to go here as a patient, I would request my nurses everyday for every shift. If you want good experience, Kaiser would not be the place to go. I am keeping my job here bc it is easy as a student and I want a place where I can be guaranteed a job once I graduate that pays well. For experience, I'm sticking with my school's hospital, which pay less, but is a level I trauma teaching hospital, so great for getting the experience I need for CRNA. I plan on working there full-time once I get my BSN for ICU experience and working at Kaiser part-time to have a place that is laid back, pays well, and has good benefits.
Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.
I did not get a job with Kaiser but I work at another hospital. It is still my goal to work at Kaiser to provide the best medical care for my family. I am not used to there being a question as to whether my insurance will cover a referral or not. And my pay is very low right now. I know my starting salary at Kaiser would be a living wage that is much more than what I make now. But I also don't want to just dump where I am working at right now. I have 3 months under my belt as a nurse and just coming off orientation so I want to give it a try for a while. Plus it would look good on my resume.
But I am hoping in the future to go part time on the weekends where I work now and have a Kaiser job for security.
brissygal, BSN, RN
118 Posts
I agree the workload is heavy at kaiser especially on a med/surg floor. I found this to be the case at Kaiser San Fran & Kaiser Oakland.
Any nurses who have worked at these facilities agree yes or no?
If you are a Kaiser patient I believe you are well looked after world-wide. I even nursed a Kaiser patient back in Australia and they were taken care of by the Aussie system but their hospital stay was covered by kaiser - very impressive. :)