University of chicago hosp

medpsychRN · Feb 17, 2005

University of Illinois at Chicago?

romsy · Feb 17, 2005

no, university of chicago in illinois

medpsychRN · Feb 17, 2005

Two different areas of the city. Northwestern is downtown on the lake. U of C in the Hyde Park area. Both are pricey areas to live.

I happen to like Northwestern. I have friends who work there and they love it. Don't hear much about U of C.

Few hospitals in Chicago have a union for nurses. I'm not sure if it is a benefit. When working for a large institution I don't know if it's necessary.

Any ideas on where you might live?

Jolie, BSN · Feb 17, 2005

Two different areas of the city. Northwestern is downtown on the lake. U of C in the Hyde Park area. Both are pricey areas to live.
I happen to like Northwestern. I have friends who work there and they love it. Don't hear much about U of C.
Few hospitals in Chicago have a union for nurses. I'm not sure if it is a benefit. When working for a large institution I don't know if it's necessary.
Any ideas on where you might live?

Univ of IL at Chicago (UIC) has a union, as does Cook County. I'm not aware of Univ. of Chicago being unionized. But U of C has had significant labor problems with their nursing staff, so check it out carefully before taking a position there.

My preference for employment in Chicago would be Rush or Northwestern. I worked at Rush a number of years ago, and found it to have an incredibly supportive environment for new grads, and also a very progressive environment for experienced nurses looking to expand their horizons. It is located very near both UIC and Cook County, and so has to keep up (salary and benefit wise) with those institutions in order to attract and retain staff. So we got the benefits of the (nearby) unions without having to pay the dues and endure the other hassles.

Good luck on your move!

Stitchie · Feb 17, 2005

Hi Romsy,

I don't know much about Northwestern except that it is a very high-profile place, always in the news. I've heard lots of good things about UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) from agency nurses who worked there -- some said it was their favorite place to work. Rush is one of the few magnet status hospitals we have.

"Downtown" Chicago is expensive to live in. PM me for areas to live -- I'm a 'Lifer' here!!

I lived in many areas of Chicago while in college and will be happy to give you details.

Good luck with your move!

Gennaver, MSN · Feb 21, 2005

Univ of IL at Chicago (UIC) has a union, as does Cook County. I'm not aware of Univ. of Chicago being unionized. But U of C has had significant labor problems with their nursing staff, so check it out carefully before taking a position there.
My preference for employment in Chicago would be Rush or Northwestern. I worked at Rush a number of years ago, and found it to have an incredibly supportive environment for new grads, and also a very progressive environment for experienced nurses looking to expand their horizons. It is located very near both UIC and Cook County, and so has to keep up (salary and benefit wise) with those institutions in order to attract and retain staff. So we got the benefits of the (nearby) unions without having to pay the dues and endure the other hassles.
Good luck on your move!

Hello,

Thank you for this post. I used to work for Advocatehealth and before then did not have an opinion on union for healthcare workers. Now I do, and I would prefer the unionized, (not for profit or whatever for me it makes a difference in how management treats its workers).

I do wonder though about the hiring freeze in Cook County hospitals? Is this true? I looked on the website for cook county employment and its tricky. A former high school classmate of mine works at the county hospital, (the one in Oak Forest) and a former co-worker did also and they both said there were very frustrating things going on in regards to staff development. An RN I worked with said that the county hired her as an LPN and when she advanced to RN they told her basically, "Good luck someplace else, because we only hired you as an LPN." She said they would only keep her on as an LPN.

Gennafer

medpsychRN · Feb 21, 2005

I have heard nothing about a hiring freeze at County and I work across the street from there. The 3 hospitals in the area have been in discussion about combining services for some time although nothing has come to pass.

How employees are treated relates to the profitability of the hospital (I think). UIC has a union and I can tell you from a patient's perspective the treatment was awful. It wasn't the nurses, it was the rest of the staff.