Pros
Cook Children's is an excellent place to work. One of the best reasons I enjoy being employed by CCMC is the comraderie among employees. I work in the ED, so it may be different on other floors, but the staff in our unit gets along extremely well. I can not think of one person I do not enjoy working with, and I have never been able to say that about any job I have ever had. Upper level management is visible and accessible, however not to the point of smothering the employee, or appearing to "watch over one's shoulder." Typically no more than about ten days pass between when someone from administration will ask me if I have all of the resources I need to do my job, if there are any process improvements I think could be made. The final question they always ask is how I am PERSONALLY doing. That is a pretty impressive and important question in my opinion, and one that is rarely asked by the administration in other healthcare facilities I have worked at. Being that we see a fair amount of sad cases come through the ED, not all of which have a positive outcome, it is easy to get beaten down sometimes. It is nice to know management and administration care. I have also see many of the suggestions that have been given to management put into action, so it makes the staff feel good that they are not only being heard, but actually being "listened" too. The hospital also gives out gifts almost every quarter for nurses appreciation week, staff birthdays etc. Last year all full time staff got a $500.00 Wal Mart gift card, and part timers got a $250.00 card. The cards were given for no reason other than that the administration really appreciated our hard work and dedication, it was as simple as that. I thought that was really amazing. The administration has a "blameless" environment attitude towards near misses and other occurrences. This means that unless you were grossly negligent, the hospital will try to fix the reason that the mistake was made, not necessarily punish the person that made it. It also encourages staff to speak up about near misses so process improvements can be made and implemented. It is easy to find cliquish groups, especially in the healthcare setting. This is not the case at CCMC. Everyone works together and management promotes a "It's all about the kids" approach to patient centered care and environment. This goes a long way to keep the staff "job focused" and conflict free.
Cons
The only downside as of late has been staffing shortages. This is not problem specific to this hospital either, it is nationwide. Management has been trying very creative ways to recruit new staff and retain them, so it is clear that they see the problem and are responding to it. The issue isn't retention so much, but it is the fact that the hospital is growing to keep pace with the size of the community, and they can't seem to find staff fast enough to keep pace. It has been getting better however, and they are still working on the permanent solution.