Onerous workload for the "Primary Nurse" - Anonymous employee VITAS Healthcare Employee Review

1.0
Sep 10, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Founded with excellent principles. A reduced amount of PTO is still offered though use of it is less often approved. The corporation freely spends for marketing. Remember--Be happy you have a job. Office staff smile and work hard performing whatever tasks are part of "their job" Company is currently solvent and is a subsidiary of Chemed Corporation which also owns Roto-Rooter. Chemed is a publicly traded company on the stock exchange-therefore much corporate info is readily available for any who care to look.

Cons

Verbal feedback to individual Team Nurses and/or any of the hands-on Team Members (HA, LCSW, Chaplain) is consistently negative. In general feedback entails increasing productivity levels, increasing paperwork, decreasing costs/expenses, reduction of reimbursement for job related expenses and/or the need to reduce the supplies allotted for the patient's care. An employee who exceeds standards in each area on the annual review will not see any increase in hourly earnings. Wages at Vitas have long been known to be lower than our competitors. For several years Vitas has frozen wages and I suspect that this will continue as Vitas repositions itself to maintain profitability under the increased scrutiny associated with healthcare reform. Company Culture is full of contradiction - rules and regulations are inconsistently applied. I have never seen a policy & procedure manual at Vitas. I suppose this fact is unimportant since the rules change from day to day and apply differently to each individual employee and/or patient situation. Attention RNS Be honest When you enter your time each day: Remember to enter all hours that you work but do NOT include the hours required to finish the ever expanding paperwork which will eat up your time on weekends and during the evening. Make sure to include at least a 30 minute lunch break when you enter your time daily. (even though you do not have time to eat) On the rare occasion that you do find time for the 30 minute lunch break--You will still required to respond within 15 minutes of receiving a call from Vitas Though you are an "hourly" employee, you may be contacted after 5pm or before 8am as a convenience for Vitas managers or patient care secretaries You will take call every 4 or 5 weeks and not be paid call pay if you are not sent out. If you are sent out, you will not be paid overtime--however you will be paid "fee for service" -- You may be sent to difficult cases that require >3hrs of your time which will provide you with an effective pay rate of ~$17.50/hour before taxes.

Explore other reviews about VITAS Healthcare

5.0
Jun 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very friendly and helpful colleagues. I came to this company with very little experience and all of my colleagues helped and educated me with all things hospice care. I got promoted 4 months after being hired as a clerk into a secretary job. Best job I've ever have.

Cons

None that I can think of.

4.0
Jun 29, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great organization structure. significant opportunity to growth for lateral and/or vertical transition. Great compensation for all disciplines if done right, a great work life balance

Cons

Initial hiring, orientation is relatively slow may be even boring process. organization values people too much and believes in helping growth of individual so much so that some time slackers are able to survive longer then they should. which can cause loss of motivation for highly driven team members. the way I would survive if I am motivated for the cause is do what is right for you and your patients, apart from that just wait for the right time. Biggest pain point is EMR. this organization is slow to the game but the organization is building and perfecting home built EMR product to have maximum flexibility. currently going through growing pains.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All