Covid Units - Do staff RN’s Rotate?

[RealNurseMom, BSN]

For those of you working on covid units, have you been working there since March/April? Did you volunteer? Are you there on a rotation? From reading previous posts, it seems to me that most RNs have been floated to the covid units so I’m curious to hear how that works.

My unit has been a covid unit since April and has not been back to regular since then. The other covid units have been terminally cleaned long ago and have been open as functioning the same way a before the pandemic. Nurses do not float at my hospital as each floor is responsible for their own staffing. Currently the Nursing staff on my covid unit (the only covid floor) are burnt out and feel that it’s unfair that no other units have to pitch in and help.

Love to hear from you all, stay safe!

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

We started with our one Covid unit last Spring and it was staffed 100% by professionals who volunteered. We are up to five Covid units now and every employee has been informed that nobody can refuse to function in their capacity based on a patient's infectious status without a valid reason - meaning those who have certain health concerns may be exempt, but for the most part if you want to keep your job, you stand at the ready. 

At this point I doubt there is anyone in direct care who has not cared for a Covid patient in my hospital. We are just that overrun. Even people who we think don't have it are developing it while here for other reasons. It's overwhelming. Many of the units that were designated for other reasons are now receiving Covid patients. 

[violet87, BSN, RN]

We currently have over 70 covid patients in my hospital, and had about 180 at the height of the first wave. Some covid units are opened from empty floors and staffed entirely with floats who are pulled from various other floors each shift, and other units are converted into covid floors and staffed with pre-existing staff from that floor. Some other floors are closed down entirely and the whole staff is sent to a new assignment on a new floor every day. Because of this, some nurses have it harder and for longer than others.

[gere7404, BSN, RN]

Our gen med unit and imcu have been designated our covid units and are generally staffed by their core staff. If they are short, or need specialty nurses (ie ACLS qualified to run certain drips) other med surg nurses or resource team float there, but it’s not like a scheduled rotation of employees. 

[lex06, BSN, RN]

In March, our cardiac PCU turned into the covid unit. They take only positive patients and even double up rooms (they've never done this before as they're a unit with only private rooms). The regular PCU takes PUIs. My unit (respiratory med surg) takes any med surg PUIs or positives. The cardiac PCU has been purely COVID since March and nurses can get floated there from any floor. Their manager quit. The unit's normal staff is burnt out from COVID. My unit has half COVID/PUIs and half regular med surg, so it helps a little with burnout if you don't always get the COVID patients. We also get hazard pay if providing direct care to COVID/PUIs which helps a little. Nurses on every unit should be prepared every day to potentially float to a COVID floor.

[RealNurseMom, BSN]

1 hour ago, lex06 said:

In March, our cardiac PCU turned into the covid unit. They take only positive patients and even double up rooms (they've never done this before as they're a unit with only private rooms). The regular PCU takes PUIs. My unit (respiratory med surg) takes any med surg PUIs or positives. The cardiac PCU has been purely COVID since March and nurses can get floated there from any floor. Their manager quit. The unit's normal staff is burnt out from COVID. My unit has half COVID/PUIs and half regular med surg, so it helps a little with burnout if you don't always get the COVID patients. We also get hazard pay if providing direct care to COVID/PUIs which helps a little. Nurses on every unit should be prepared every day to potentially float to a COVID floor.

At least your hospital gives hazard pay. We haven’t gotten an extra penny and have been caring for covid + patients since April. Been wishing for that at least.