Floated to ICU with no experience

[missnursingstudent19]

I’ve been a medsurg nurse for about a year. Today I was randomly floated to the ICU even though I’ve never worked on an ICU at all. I absolutely did not feel comfortable with this. Is this common to be floated to an area you have no experience in?

[MunoRN, RN]

It depends, are you saying you were floated to ICU and given ICU patients or given patients who are a lower level of care but still physically in the ICU?  Medsurg nurses are also sometimes floated to ICU to help out and are delegated tasks and responsibilities that are within their scope.  What were you asked to do when floated to ICU?

[Chickenlady]

Agree.  There is a difference between floating to ICU and hanging antibiotics, giving meds, doing ADLs and vitals, OR being given a patient load and told to manage an Art line, ICP, titrating pressors, etc. 

[Sour Lemon]

1 hour ago, missnursingstudent19 said:

I’ve been a medsurg nurse for about a year. Today I was randomly floated to the ICU even though I’ve never worked on an ICU at all. I absolutely did not feel comfortable with this. Is this common to be floated to an area you have no experience in?

A past employer attempted to float me to ICU and give me the "easiest" patients. I flat-out refused.

I don't think it's common, but it's not unheard of either. I would have been willing to float there as a "helper", but that's it.

[missnursingstudent19]

Got a pt who needed to be intubated. I’ve never cared for an intubated pt. before. I will be talking to my manager about how unsafe this all was.

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

I have floated to our MICU/CICU. Usually I was given a boarder or a pt who really isn't a true ICU pt. Other times it has been as a "helping hand".

[LibraNurse27, BSN, RN]

16 hours ago, missnursingstudent19 said:

Got a pt who needed to be intubated. I’ve never cared for an intubated pt. before. I will be talking to my manager about how unsafe this all was.

That is not a safe assignment. I get floating to other units to take care of boarders that are at the acuity level of your home unit. But no one who is not an ICU nurse and not trained on assisting with intubation and caring for intubated patients should be expected to do that.

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

When covid was hitting us hard here in MI in March,April,and May we floated med surg nurses to ICU but they functioned as helpers and would do stuff like help by running to pharmacy for controlled meds like versed drips or other drips that needed to be picked up.  They helped as the function as an aide.  We never made them take assignments.  

 

That is not safe to make you take ICU patients.  I would have refused if I were you. 

 

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

17 hours ago, missnursingstudent19 said:

Got a pt who needed to be intubated. I’ve never cared for an intubated pt. before. I will be talking to my manager about how unsafe this all was.

Did you receive the patient at the start of the shift,  and the intubation was imminent... or did the patient decline during your shift? Did you have another patient? If you have been med-surg for a year, I am sure you have had to assist with intubation.

[WestCoastSunRN, MSN, CNS]

I recognize all sorts of shenanigans can happen, but not enough info is given by the OP to determine if his/her assignment was safe or not.

That said, many moons ago I was also floated to the ICU, given appropriate assignments, showed myself to be a team player with a zest for learning - and then I was recruited into the ICU and have been a critical care nurse ever since.  It can be a very good thing to get floated to the ICU.

[turtlesRcool]

21 hours ago, Been there,done that said:

If you have been med-surg for a year, I am sure you have had to assist with intubation.

1) Don't be sure of that. I've been med-surg for 5 years, and have never assisted with an intubation.  

2) If you're on a med-surg unit and a patient needs intubation, the patient is not left there for the med-surg RN to care for.  The intubation is part of an emergent situation (where there is a full team including doctors, RTs, specialist RNs), and the patient is transferred to critical care ASAP.  Assisting a team with an intubation is wildly different from being left alone to figure out how to care for an intubated patient for a shift.

OP's situation sounds downright dangerous for the patient.  Would you want your mom or dad to be cared for by a nurse who has never been trained in intubated patients?  I surely would not.  No one should be responsible for an intubated patient who has not been oriented to it.

[WestCoastSunRN, MSN, CNS]

On 9/10/2020 at 2:26 PM, missnursingstudent19 said:

Got a pt who needed to be intubated. I’ve never cared for an intubated pt. before. I will be talking to my manager about how unsafe this all was.

So to clarify, can you tell us briefly if they knew they would be intubating this patient when they assigned him/her to you?  And why did the patient need to be intubated?

When the intubation was happening, were you alone with the intubating provider and expected to know how to assist with the intubation - or were there other team members there with you?

Were you left with this assignment after the patient was intubated and on the ventilator?

Your situation may have been unsafe, indeed.  I think the question here, and the crux of the whole issue of floating non-ICU staff to ICU - is what can/should be expected of a nurse in that situation - and how does that compare to what was expected of you?