Floating for 1st assignment?

[michlynn]

I was approved for my 1st assignment (finally!) in NC but they told me I was going to be floating on all of the med/surg tele units and this hospital is HUGE and now I feel very overwhelmed. Has anyone ever floated for their first assignment? I feel bad not accepting the position but after thinking about it I feel like I should wait for an assignment doing something I'm more familiar with.

[Travel_RN_0714, MSN, RN]

If you don't want to float to other departments, just have that written into your contract.

[blackeyedsusan]

I just finished an ICU float assignment at Wake Forest. You did the right thing! That place is crazy! Every unit does things differently - almost like working in a different hospital every night. And I heard from other nurses that the med-surg floors are even crazier. They float their own staff to any unit at any time, so you can imagine what they do with travelers. I'm never going back there. And if you're not comfortable floating on your first assignment (which is totally understandable), don't feel bad about it! There are plenty of other assignments out there.

[michlynn, BSN, RN]

I did end up turning them down, I can only imagine how crazy it gets at a hospital of that size. I'm really at a loss as to where I want to go for my first assignment. I know I just need to pick and place and go and get all of that nervous-I'm-finally-traveling tension out of the way but I also don't want to be so stressed out during my 1st assignment that I don't want to do it again.