Floating

[dwoolard]

I use to work as a floor/charge nurse in a hospital back in the Midwest and the attitudes to float nurses were not the best. I felt like the mentality of the hospital was floaters got the harder assignment, along with any travelers. My floor was unique and the nurses were not pre assigned to a group of patients upon starting the shift. The off going charge nurse would create patient bundles and when nurses arrive on the unit they would pick a group of patients. Now, certain employees would take advantage and arrive on the unit 30 or minutes early to choose an "easier assignment" or to avoid a "certain patient". Our system would automatically put nurses who floated to our unit at a disadvantage because they would be floating from a different unit or arrive at the normal start of shift time and get the last assignment.

After a year of travel nursing, I took a full time staff position as a float nurse in a hospital located in the west. This hospital had a previous float pool before but it was only comprised of a couple of nurses. Now, the float pool has a new manager and has expanded to a small army in the hospital. I wondered at first if this hospital will have the same attitude as my previous hospital in the Midwest. I am happy to report that is not the case at my new hospital. When floating to a unit within the hospital, the staff thanks and cheers to get a float nurse that shift. The unit treats their floated nurses sometimes better than their own staff because they want them to come back in the future. As a bonus, the individual floors can call the float pool staff if overtime is available because they are short staff. This type of culture should be across all hospitals towards their float pool staff.

There are some distinct advantages and disadvantages of being in the float pool at a hospital. One of the best advantages of being a float nurse fewer politics and emails. By only floating to a unit, I am not involved in the unit's politics which is a nice change. Another advantage I enjoy is being able to create my own schedule and overtime. By floating to over 10 different units, a unit is usually short at any given time. The disadvantages I would mention is trying to find supplies because they are located in different sections from unit to unit. Building a relationship outside of the workplace can be a challenge, without constantly seeing the same co-workers.

For people who are float nurses or what to become float nurses, I have some tips that have come in handy. First, play to your strengths when working on a unit that is not your primary specialty. My main background is cardiac related, when I am floated to the oncology unit I help answer questions that are cardiac related. This helps open the door to answer questions from them about their specialty. Second, be flexible among the different units. Two similar units could have different policies or have a different workflow among their units. Try your best to follow their policies and if needed play dumb. What I mean by "playing dumb" is acting surprised when a staff member tells you something that is unique to their unit. Last, don't comprise patient safety in the effort of not creating waves. Stay true to the hospital's double check policies or medication titration guidelines to avoid an issue down the road.

I enjoy being a float nurse for now, and maybe one day I will select a home.