Float pool techs?

NoScrubs · May 1, 2014

Float pool techs get paid more at my place of employment. However, maybe it's because I work for an organization that branches into 4 hospitals throughout the county, so they float not just from floor to floor but from hospital to hospital as well.

KimRN2015 · May 1, 2014

I was a float pool tech for five years and we made 15% more in regards to base pay but no we didn't have a differential for being float. I agree with you about having to be able to switch gears at the drop of a hat and go to another floor and dive in. Just my two cents! Have a great day!

AutumnStarr · May 14, 2014

We make a 15% differential but we don't have shift differential. I think it is important for us to have it because we are thrown around more than most other aids there are and in my experience, we always get the nasty jobs because "you haven't been here, you haven't dealt with this yet".

Okami_CCRN, BSN, RN · May 15, 2014

I was a float tech for a few years and I have to disagree, all of us do the exact same job; patient care, vitals, EKG, blood draws, etc.

Why should we get paid more if we are doing the exact same job as the other techs on their home floor.

funtimes · May 16, 2014

I was a float tech for a few years and I have to disagree, all of us do the exact same job; patient care, vitals, EKG, blood draws, etc.
Why should we get paid more if we are doing the exact same job as the other techs on their home floor.

Did you just float to a few similar units at a small hospital? At the hospital where I was a float tech it was like working in 20 different mini hospitals. There were ways of doing things on one unit that would get you in big trouble on another unit, and you were constantly running into stuff you'd never seen or even heard of before, and of course the regular staff on that unit act like you're an idiot if you don't know what a flux capacitance percutaneous drain inhibitor 3 way flow valve is and where to get one.

I've worked as a tech on individual units, and working as a float tech at a large hospital is about 10 times harder. It was a daily minefield. We had techs who were superstars on individual units before working as a float and totally crashing and burning. Its a completely different ballgame.

So yes, float techs should get a sizeable differential, same as RNs. If anything the float techs have it a lot worse because they have no clout, have less training, and have to spend a lot more time looking for people. What float tech hasn't walked up to like 4 or 5 nurses in a row asking "are you so and so?" "Anyone seen this Nurse, or has any idea what he/she looks like?". I probably spent a quarter of my shift looking for people and equipment. I wanted to just bring a megaphone to work.

God that was a horrible job, I shudder just thinking about it. I did it for a year and a half and hated every second of it. I finally got an ICU position and it was like going from the Indianapolis 500 to riding a bike.

Okami_CCRN, BSN, RN · May 16, 2014

Did you just float to a few similar units at a small hospital? At the hospital where I was a float tech it was like working in 20 different mini hospitals. There were ways of doing things on one unit that would get you in big trouble on another unit, and you were constantly running into stuff you'd never seen or even heard of before

I floated in a large 600 bed facility between every unit, the plus side was that techs in the float pool were oriented one day to every unit before going off orientation on their own. While yes floating was stressful, the beauty in it was the fact that I wasn't caught up in unit-based drama, I got to do my job without people coming to chit-chat, and most of the time because I was float they understood that I did not know everything and were pretty chill about it.

I am sorry that your experience was different but I just don't agree that a PCT should be paid higher or lower based on where they work. However, I do believe people should be paid higher for experience.

uds16 · May 20, 2014

I was a float tech for a few years and I have to disagree, all of us do the exact same job; patient care, vitals, EKG, blood draws, etc.
Why should we get paid more if we are doing the exact same job as the other techs on their home floor.

If you take a mother baby tech and throw them in the ED they would be "LOST IN THE SAUCE". If you take a Observation unit tech and float them to NICU, again, they would be "LOST IN THE SAUCE". I'm saying this to say that us float pool techs have to be proficcent in every skill on every unit we float 2. Those who work on a specific unit are only responsible for the tasks and skills on that specific unit. An example: the ED techs at my hospital are responsible for inserting IV's. No other units on the hospital are allowed to do that. So because i'm in the float pool, i HAD to learn how to do that. Also, no other floor is responsible for doing EKG's so again i HAD to learn how to read and interpret those EKG's. That is just a couple of the skills i have picked up while working in the float pool. If i have more skills and EXPERIENCE than the other techs I'm working around then i expect to be paid more.