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Discussion

floating

i'm wondering what your hospital practices are on floating-,how often do you have to do it,and how you all feel about it? our infant unit is lower census in the summer, and we ended up floating ALOT last summer.I already went to the NICU last shift because of this, and actually prefer the NICU over the floors with the bigger kids, but still....i am a n acute care nurse. I really do not feel it is a safe practice.thoughts??

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Hospitals resort to floating because there are times when one unit needs help and another has help to give. Most people hate it becuase they don't feel safe/competent on a strange floor. The key is to work with your administration to develop guidelines for doing it safely.

For example, floaters might be used more as helpers rather than take a full assignment unless they have received a proper oriention to that unit. Individual units might develop information sheets and other resources to help floaters. Floaters might be assigned to a "buddy" to be a resource person for the floater. The hospital could provide some sort of financial incentive for people to be willing to float -- and then provide them with some extra training to help them feel more comfortable doing it. etc. etc.

I doubt that floating is going to be eliminated entirely in the foreseeable future, but I do think that hospitals can make it tolerable for those that have to do it.

Just my $.02,

llg

I work peds. heme/onc and general peds. We do get pulled (thank God it only happens once or twice a year) and I hate it. We either go to PICU (which I hate) or NICU or NIM. I would much rather go to NICU or NIM. I do not feel it's safe. We had 4-8 hrs of training. We are not expected to take vents. We go on a rotating basis so its not always the same person having to go.

All of maternal-child is obligated to float within that dept. when census demands. If you get cut from your shift due to low census, and the other units cannot use you, you have the option of staying home or volunteering to work in a unit outside your service line. Some pedi nurses get crosstrained in more than one dept (like ER) so they can feel comfortable when they float.

Floating..wow that would be great if we had a floater. We are always short staffed. At my hospital they have just closed our ward for the summer :(. It is bad news they say they are trying to save money. It is worrying as its the time of year for orthopaedic patients that arrive , as u know kids will be kids.

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