Pros
I met and had the pleasure of working with some of the kindest, most dedicated nurses in a decade of working at BH. Nurses support one another in learning new skills and in providing evidence based care. This is the kind of place where people work for you on Christmas so you can home with your toddlers, and donate PTO hours so you can care for your sick mother. Many of the nurses were born and raised in the area, and they have a true commitment to serving their community. You could not work with a better bunch of people. This is an MNA union shop, so wages are decent. Free parking, reverse commute from most locations. Opportunity to progress to team leader or nurse manager positions or to apply for better shifts.
Cons
Management changes over the past 10 years have resulted in a profound decline in quality of care. Staffing is done with a skeleton crew, adjusting to census increase by mandated overtime. Nurse managers are kind, but ineffectual, without the power to make real change for nurses or patients. Excellence is no longer recognized and it's apparently impossible for incompetent staff to be terminated or rehabilitated. Staff turnover has become a significant problem in the past few years, as a number of older nurses have retired. Sadly, this once wonderful unit is now only beholden to the bottom line. Regular employees are required to work every other holiday (Christmas & Christmas Eve are considered 2 holidays), as well as every other weekend. This many nurses are not required on these shifts. Decisions about who is given premium shifts off is left to the capricious choices of the scheduling manager, who has a reputation for her difficult nature.