Float nurse-Pros & cons?

[MiaLyse]

I'm currently orienting as a float nurse/per diem. I don't know what area of the hospital

I actually like so I thought I'd start out floating/plus hospital nursing is new to me.

Besides hearing that they get the "worst pt. groups" (I know this isn't always so), what are the pros and cons?

I know some nurses like taking float commitments too so there must be pros. tia for any

experiences.

[RhiaRN75, RN]

I loved floating. I had six years of MS experience when I did it, and I worked float pool at a huge hospital. I saw everything- I don't think there was a floor on the hospital I didn't work on by the time I was done.

This hospital was always packed- so I even went to speciality ICU's to take floor pts who had no room to move to. I helped out on the open-heart floor, but was never the primary nurse- more of a glorified CNA but it was cool. I worked on temporary units that had been set up D/T crazy census, I worked in the ER a few times as backup, I even pulled many shifts on the psych floor as backup. The only thing I didn't do was the OR. (And peds and L&D, they were 'seperate' hospitals.)

Most of the units I worked on were very grateful to have me. There were a few that gave me the worst assignment- I'm sure in part because I was 'paid more', but it didn't bother me. First, I was paid more, lol. Second, it wasn't worth the hassle to complain- I never had anything I couldn't handle. I was rarely on the same unit two nights in a row, and sometimes didn't stay on the same unit for the whole shift. I pretty much wrote my own schedule. I loved it.

The biggest downside for me was not knowing what happened to my pts. Did they get better? Worse? I usually never knew. I also had one pt who sticks out in my mind- she was so sick but no one seemed to be able to find a cause. To me, she seemed to have early ALS, had all the symptoms including dolls' hands. She was on a catch-all unit, and it was just frustrating for all involved. She eventually had a neuro consult, but I never say her after that so I've always wondered what her diagnosis was.