Staff Made To Float

fergus51 · Sep 9, 2003

Have you asked the board of nursing? Here, the standard is "What would a prudent nurse do?". If a prudent nurse would not accept an assignment or float because it is inappropriate, we have the right to refuse.

cindylouwho · Sep 10, 2003

we have made such a fuss about floating that now we only have to go to pedi and mbu......just say the word LAWSUIT and they will get over it.....no one needs to be working in a unit they aren't trained in....it' s not worth it for them or each person in the long run if an error is made due to not being familiar with the way they do things.....

kimmicoobug · Sep 11, 2003

To work at the hospital I work at, you are required to float. I am a new grad and have been cross trained in three different areas....

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Sep 11, 2003

Sorry I don't know anything about Tennessee's Nurse Practice Act in particular but it was my understanding that California was the only state to have enacted minimum nurse to patient ratios. I know floating policies usually vary from hospital to hospital. The last hospital I worked at was a small community hospital where I was still in Med/Surg/Telemetry. We used to get nurses floated to us from their level II NICU. We accomodated their wishes and let them work in a support role, not in charge of a patient assignment; we could only imagine how we would have felt had we been floated to their unit. I've now changed hospitals and specialties. I now work at a large level III (55+ beds) NICU. We ONLY float to general nursery. There is no Pedi unit in our hospital as we are next door to a large Children's hospital. The trade off is that we can be cancelled if our census is low. Well, technically if we are to be cancelled we can request to float to another unit in the hospital and they have to either work us or pay us for the shift to stay home. I've never heard of anyone taking that option though I might as I actually might know how to take care of adults from my previous experience.

rox4synch · Sep 12, 2003

Hi,

You must check your state's nurse practice act. VA practice act advises "to be prudent" and we have the right to be properly oriented/trained to a unit and to say "no" to an assignment and we can bring professional charges against any RN supervisor who is not willing to take "no" as an answer!

As I work in a 56 bed Lev III NICU, it is rare that we would be floated. Most times, we are offered cancellation by senority (if no overtime or per diem's on). If one of us must float, we do not take an assignment....we work as an assistant caregiver taking VS & acting as a "go-fer". And, we cannot go near a possible "dirty" pt. as we may be called back to the NICU.....so this pretty much "deters" someone from our unit being pulled to float. At this point in time, the unit has all it can do to staff itself adequately!