Madonna nurses are central to Madonna’s mission. Their dedication and compassion for our patients is a large part of why we were honored to be named among the Best Places to Work in 2021. If you’re looking to take the next step in your nursing career, consider a career path at Madonna. Below is how our director of nurses responded when asked reasons why our hospitals and the dedicated team of nurses are top notch.
Q: What makes a rehab nurse different?
A: In addition to addressing the medical needs of our high acuity patients, we also help the patient and families rebuild and adapt to their lives moving forward through education and training. We are fortunate to have the ability to build relationships with patients and families due to their extended length of stay. Every decision and goal we set together with our patients and their loved ones is based on their future and not just the moment or issue that is in front of us at the time. We are not just planning for what should come next, but doing the work with them to get them back to their home and community.
Q: What do you offer in terms of professional development for your nursing staff?
A: At Madonna, one of the big growth opportunities we offer is the chance to become a CRRN (Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse). We not only encourage it for our nurses, but we have resources and classes to help them through the CRRN journey and certification process. We cover the cost of that certification, and offer CRRN review classes as well as a self-study guide that goes along with an online program. We also have Monthly CEU’s free of cost that focus on rehabilitation nursing. There is the opportunity for education support as well as a preceptor program and RN residency programs that aid in growth and development.
Q: Rehabilitation seems like it would be a strenuous job, can you speak to the physical workload required to care for rehab patients?
A: We take the safety of our employees as one of our highest priorities and have many things in place to help ensure safety. We have unit-based safety champions and we use the latest devices, technologies, techniques as well as evidence-based practice to ensure safe patient handling. As nurses ourselves, we appreciate the high value Madonna gives to safety. In health care, protecting our bodies is very important. Having an employer that believes and supports this through training, tools and technology is fantastic.
Q: What benefits do you offer?
A: We offer a wide variety of benefits, including our staffing and scheduling. Most of our areas use a self-scheduling web-based software system that allows our staff to schedule their hired hours. This creates opportunities for a more flexible schedule for our staff to help create a better work-life balance. The staffing department itself is a great benefit. We have a staffing department that is here seven days a week to help meet our staffing needs and assist nursing staff in addition to the web-based staffing software you can access anywhere and at any time. You can view a more comprehensive list of our benefits here: https://www.madonna.org/grow-your-nursing-career-at-madonna
Q: How do you show appreciation and recognition for your nursing staff?
A: Our staff is what makes Madonna so special and allows the Madonna Miracles to happen. We work to provide on-the-spot recognition and appreciation to our staff in a variety of ways. We not only want to recognize staff, but we also want to engage our staff in dialogue to see how we can support them and identify growth opportunities. We encourage our staff to recognize each other as well. Appreciating each other adds as much value to teams as getting recognized by supervisors. We also make sure that our staff know when a patient or family member has recognized their efforts, support and quality of care.
Q: What makes Madonna stand out as an employer?
A: Madonna is a national destination for rehabilitation. We offer world-class care, and are nationally recognized for specialized medical rehabilitation. Our nurses work closely with a cohesive interdisciplinary team of physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, neuropsychologists, physicians and many more health care professionals to help patients achieve their highest level of independence. It comes down to our core values of collaboration, hospitality, respect, innovation, stewardship and teaching. Many places have core values, but we actually live them.
Q: What do you like about working at Madonna?
A: The opportunity to be part of world-class rehabilitation, an interdisciplinary team of professionals all working towards a common goal, and a chance to be part of Madonna Miracles. Those relationships built with our patients, families and co-workers is what motivates and fulfills our staff. That’s evident in our longevity. Many staff members have been with Madonna for decades! Every month, we acknowledge work anniversaries, and it is not uncommon to see several people celebrating 20, 30, even 40 years of service. That shows a great place to work where people feel valued.
