Floating Burnout (rant)

[RKCNA]

This is just a rant I need to get off of my chest.

So in my hospital the Float team is understaffed (as is every floor in truth) so when staffing calls up to a floor to let them know the oncoming team there's always one or two names that get marked as floats.

My issue is my floor (I work as a CNA on OBS) is usually the one that gets all the techs taken away to float on other floors. I only work weekends which according to my hospital has a matrix of 5:2 or 6:1 is regards to how many nurses you have and how many techs will stay on the floor (ie; five nurses equals two techs). Nurses have a patient ratio of 1:6,but that's hospital wide minus ICU&PCU, and charge nurses taking only 2-3 patients (expect in neuro where they take up to six as well).

Well despite this matrix supposed to be in place I've worked nights with five nurses all completely stuffed and I'm the only tech. There's been nights when the nurses have had no techs because 'other floors had a higher need'.

I don't know about other OBS at hospitals, but mine takes everything short of an active seizure and even then they've tried to send one or two onto the floor. This is not a floor that can work easily without techs since we can take total cares and we've gotten two or three person assists on the floor.

But again out of all the other units mine gets pulled from first and since I only work weekends I spend at least two of my three days on a completely different floor.

I love working my floor, and there are some floors I don't mind floating to, but I'm getting tired of getting onto my floor and being told I'm going up to another. I seem to spend more nights on another floor than my own, and if I'm on my home floor I'm the only tech.

I know the problem won't change until the other floors hire more people, but sometimes it feels like their directors don't care since they know staffing will pull from my floor. I can understand them having issues hiring, but again it just feels like they're not gonna try.

[AJJKRN]

Two things...

If you're not the only tech working on your floor then a float list should be made so that you only float when it's your turn to.

As a float nurse myself that worked as a foot tech in school, think of floating as a learning experience each time. And however frustrating it may be, you work for the organization and not the floor. A paycheck is a paycheck.