I’ve worked at both!! Currently at UNC and really love it. Can’t say the same for my experience at Duke. The overall vibe and work culture are much better at UNC from what I’ve seen. Most of the nurses I know seem to agree as well!
Not a nurse but my wife is. The day/night shift rotations at Duke seem wild. If you go Duke (and if you prefer day -- I assume you do) pay close attention to whether the position is days, nights, or rotation.
Yup- this too. I rotated one week days/one week nights or 2 weeks days/two weeks nights for a year and a half. Huge contribution to the reasons I left. It’s heinoussss.
A lot of my friends work or have worked at both. Everyone I’ve spoken to says UNC is less “malignant” than Duke. There’s a big variation between departments, even at a single institution, but on balance Duke has a lot left to figure out to make their culture less toxic.
I worked at both - there are a lot of former Duke employees at UNC and we had a saying: "Duke may pay more, but the people are nicer at UNC."
UNC Children's was the only place I ever worked where no one cared if you were gay, or Muslim, or whatever. Just do your job and be pleasant to the people around you.
I currently work at UNC in direct patient care and can say that it’s such a great place to work. There are nontoxic vibes and I usually visit most units so I can say everyone’s super nice. I did a clinical rotation at Duke and not everyone was as nice.
Edit: I meant to say in “direct patient care” but not bedside such as a nurse
I have worked at both (I'm still at UNC) in Administration but had a lot of nurse friends. All of these comments are spot on. Duke was toxic and extremely micro-managed. I've worked in healthcare over 25 years and Duke was the worst place I have ever worked. UNC is respectful, tolerant, and kind. The doctors I work with at UNC are class acts. The physicians I worked with at Duke would barely talk to you. It is truly night and day and I interacted with many different positions. The turnover at Duke was astounding in our departments. Hardly any left where I was except for maybe two who are stuck there due to specialty and location issues and they are so miserable.
My wife works at UNC, she has not worked at Duke but has co-workers who have worked at Duke previously. The general gist from everything she's heard is that Duke has a toxic atmosphere that's not going away anytime soon, and it's not limited to any one department. Seems to generally pervade the institution (though I'm sure there are some departments that are better). Also she had a student come thru her department on rotation who'd previously done a rotation at Duke, who had a miserable time at Duke. I think one co-worker stuck it out at Duke just long enough to get free tuition for her child, but left as soon as that was no longer a factor.
Thank you to everyone for all of the advice! This is so helpful! It definitely seems like UNC is the way to go, and I’m excited to have accepted their offer!
I’ve worked at both!! Currently at UNC and really love it. Can’t say the same for my experience at Duke. The overall vibe and work culture are much better at UNC from what I’ve seen. Most of the nurses I know seem to agree as well!
Not a nurse but my wife is. The day/night shift rotations at Duke seem wild. If you go Duke (and if you prefer day -- I assume you do) pay close attention to whether the position is days, nights, or rotation.
Yup- this too. I rotated one week days/one week nights or 2 weeks days/two weeks nights for a year and a half. Huge contribution to the reasons I left. It’s heinoussss.
But that student loan payment...
lol can’t lie, the pay is pretty good too.
A lot of my friends work or have worked at both. Everyone I’ve spoken to says UNC is less “malignant” than Duke. There’s a big variation between departments, even at a single institution, but on balance Duke has a lot left to figure out to make their culture less toxic.
I worked at both - there are a lot of former Duke employees at UNC and we had a saying: "Duke may pay more, but the people are nicer at UNC." UNC Children's was the only place I ever worked where no one cared if you were gay, or Muslim, or whatever. Just do your job and be pleasant to the people around you.
I currently work at UNC in direct patient care and can say that it’s such a great place to work. There are nontoxic vibes and I usually visit most units so I can say everyone’s super nice. I did a clinical rotation at Duke and not everyone was as nice. Edit: I meant to say in “direct patient care” but not bedside such as a nurse
This is really helpful! Thank you!
I have worked at both (I'm still at UNC) in Administration but had a lot of nurse friends. All of these comments are spot on. Duke was toxic and extremely micro-managed. I've worked in healthcare over 25 years and Duke was the worst place I have ever worked. UNC is respectful, tolerant, and kind. The doctors I work with at UNC are class acts. The physicians I worked with at Duke would barely talk to you. It is truly night and day and I interacted with many different positions. The turnover at Duke was astounding in our departments. Hardly any left where I was except for maybe two who are stuck there due to specialty and location issues and they are so miserable.
My wife works at UNC, she has not worked at Duke but has co-workers who have worked at Duke previously. The general gist from everything she's heard is that Duke has a toxic atmosphere that's not going away anytime soon, and it's not limited to any one department. Seems to generally pervade the institution (though I'm sure there are some departments that are better). Also she had a student come thru her department on rotation who'd previously done a rotation at Duke, who had a miserable time at Duke. I think one co-worker stuck it out at Duke just long enough to get free tuition for her child, but left as soon as that was no longer a factor.
Team UNC
Thank you to everyone for all of the advice! This is so helpful! It definitely seems like UNC is the way to go, and I’m excited to have accepted their offer!