can you be floated while your on orientation?

[labnars]

hi guys. i need your advice. i am currently on orientation in nicu now. i was previously working in th peds floor in the same hospital for 3 years. now im on my 3rd week orientation but nurse manager keeps pullinh me to float in ped floor . i feel used is this legal? how can i learn if in the middle of my orientation they keep floating me

[labnars]

thank you everyone for your replies. yes i have spoke to the NM regrding this. she said i will only be release when im ready.. but still even if they extend my orientation, how can i properly learn if my orientation is not continous and consistent because of this floating drama....i am always the one they are eyeing on because all units are understaff. i even heard they could not float other nicu nurse to other floor because nicu is sterile....is this true? and also the other orientee has no experience in peds floor thats why her orientation os proper ..she always have a preceptor.

[VANurse2010]

I agree. Why do people think there are laws about whether or not a fully trained pediatric nurse can be pulled to work on a pediatric floor? Laws re: employment in the US are MINIMAL. Basically, your employer must pay you for hours worked and time and half for any hours worked in excess of 40 if you are an hourly employer and you cannot be discriminated against for reasons such as race and sex and other specific reasons prohibited by law. That's pretty much it. The government cares not where your private employer assigns you to work.

And those are barely enforced by the conservative regimes that have run roughshod over the country in the last 35 years. Oops, did I say that out loud?

[Red Kryptonite]

And those are barely enforced by the conservative regimes that have run roughshod over the country in the last 35 years. Oops, did I say that out loud?

You mean the ones that the will of the voters keep putting in office?

And yeah, the last six years have been SO conservative....

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

OP - Yes it is unfair, but they can (and will obviously) float you to meet their needs. Just make sure to stand up for yourself when they kick you off of orientation. Make sure you feel you can provide safe care. You won't know how to handle everything, that will come with experience. You should however feel like you can provide basic and safe care. Congrats on the new position and good luck!

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

It's 100% legal. Not always fair, but not illegal.

It's also nothing that the BON will do anything about either, because BONs leave it up to the nurse to determine if they are qualified to accept an assignment and if not, for the nurse to refuse it.

[VANurse2010]

You mean the ones that the will of the voters keep putting in office?

And yeah, the last six years have been SO conservative....

Compared to how the country functioned prior to the 1980s, absolutely.

[OldDude]

Nurses, like other healthcare professionals, are like tools hanging in the garage for the home owner to use as needed. The hospital fills its own real or perceived needs first; your comfort level about it isn't relevant to the hospital.

[proud nurse, BSN, RN]

When I was on orientation, if my preceptor floated, I did too. I've known a few orientees that tried to find another nurse to work with that day so they did not have to float. They are pretty flexible that way. My job does have a policy that once you are off orientation and completely on your own, you cannot be floated for 30 days.

[Guttercat, ASN, RN]

Welcome to nursing! I see nothing has changed.

My first job out of college was in a sizable ICU (Cardiac/thoracic and MICU combo). They gave me--a new grad-- exactly two and one half weeks with a preceptor, a couple days of class, and then set me on my own. For real. A couple of weeks after that, they floated me to a specialized Neuro-ICU, where I worked by myself in a self-contained unit, 4:1, with no orientation whatsoever.

It sucked donkey.