Top execs pay themselves fat bonuses while the people who do all the work are denied raises
Pros
Free education at UAB for full-timers
Cons
Top execs pay themselves fat bonuses using taxpayer money while the people who do all the work--Nurses, PCTs, Dietary, Environmental are denied raises, bonuses, and have pay incentives like shift differential decreased or eliminated (no more charge nurse pay). Letter from CEOs stated that this "trimming of the fat" was due to changes in Medicare reimbursement, blaming the federal government, in not so many words they want you to think it's all Obama's fault that you're not getting a raise. However there is new equipment everywhere that must have cost multi-millions--a new medication automation system Omnicell (got rid of Pyxis), new label maker system, new copiers/fax machines, you can see the money spent everywhere, and to top if off, our CNO, Terri Poe, paid herself $63,000 bonus in December 2014, while nurses had paycheck cuts and no raises, no bonuses. They issue "zero tolerance" policy for certain policies/procedures without the adequate education and resources, and nurses have been suspended and fired (from UAB's ER especially). Forget about asking questions regarding the policies, if you ask questions because you need clarification, you get told that you will be written up for insubordination (true story). As a cherry on top, they make drastic strict changes to the attendance policy, only allowing 3 call-ins and after 5 call-ins an employee can be terminated regardless of the reason for the call-ins. Most CEOs, nurse managers/directors/supervisors, nurse practitioners/clinicians, and physicians want you to do what they say and ask no questions, even if policies are unclear or orders endanger patients' lives. I have worked at other Magnet hospitals and this is the worst, falsely designated Magnet hospital, I have ever worked at. There is NO empowerment of nurses. Forget about a non-punitive environment for reporting medications errors--a quality of Magnet hospitals. Don't you dare make a med error, it will go to the top execs and they will want you fired. UAB does not care about those that do all the hard work. Nurses are not a vital member of the healthcare team, management, execs and MDs want you to do what they say without any question. Poorly performing nurse managers take all the credit for the hard work of the nurses and PCTs. UAB pays some of the lowest salaries in the state for RNs, acting as if everyone should want to work there since they are the only Magnet hospital, the pay is pitiful. The only nurses left are the ones who are hanging on to their TRS retirement which is no longer offered to new employees. So many good nurses have quit in the last few months because they are fed-up. I'm one of them, leaving was the best decision of my life!
