Floating to other units...

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Just wondering what your policy is for floating to other units. Especially for new hires...is there a minimum time frame they have to be out of orientation before they can be pulled to other floors? Ours is 30 days for an experienced nurse, and 90 days for a new grad. Do you get any kind of extra pay when you get pulled? We don't but sometimes I feel like we should just because our float pool nurses make almost double what the floor nurses do. My floor is so over staffed right now on day shift that I get pulled about every 2 weeks. And part of the reason is because our newer staff are exempt from floating. When I was a new grad, I was pulled to other units left and right!:bugeyes:

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Floats and staff nurses make the same money.

And yes we can be pulled, BUT only after any floats working the unit have already been moved.

It usually works out fairly, when we are short upto five nurses for one shift we get staff from other units and the same works in return for them. Medicine nurses go to Medicine Units, Surgery to Surgery, and those working in Women's Health go either to gynie or postpartum.

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

Float nurses earn more money than floor nurses in my hospital. We take turns to float. Nobody likes it because when we get floated it is normally to a floor which treats us badly.

New grads float after 3 months and experienced nurses after 30 days.

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We don't have float nurses; if there's too many one one unit and another one needs staff, everyone floats in rotation. PCAs float too. Floated staff make a little extra money for the float above the base pay. People can also get called in to work extra if they want; they won't get float pay for that, though.

Once off orientation, new staff have sixty days on their "home" unit before being eligible to float. And everyone floats!

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Specializes in ICU.

in the hospital i work at now, a new hire (regardless of their experience) does not get pulled for 3 months after their orientation is over.

in my prior hospital, you got pulled the day you were off orientation. it was often a 2 way pull. someone replaced you from another floor, so you could be pulled to another unit.

no one likes to get pulled i suppose but your day is set by your own attitude. go with a positive one and you'll have a good day regardless. the people you are helping will be happy to see you and you'll feel at home in moments. the day is what you make of it. :nuke:

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Specializes in Med/ surg,ortho.onc,supvsn.

Our new Nurses (new grad or new employee), do not float for 6 months, the cna for 3.Yes we do float, no, we do not get any extra money for it.That is a good idea tho !!!:mad:

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Hate floating! I work in a busy PICU, but occasionally we float to other units when our census is low. But our unit has a policy that if you don't call off for 6 months, you are exempt from floating for the next 6 months! LOVE this!! Great incentive to not call off for "just because"....:lol2:

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Specializes in Medical Surgical.

Wow--great reward for not calling in sick!! No-one likes to float, it's the lack of cross-training that kills you. A Rehab nurse in intensive care? A cardiac nurses in nICU? Does that make sense to you?

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new grads at our hospital are not allowed to float until after 6 months of employment on the same floor. but i agree with the other poster here, they don't treat floaters very nicely (since you're unknown), and not knowing where anything is is a real pain in the butt too

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

I float quite frequentally. RN's (new hires or new grads) aren't allowed to float for one year. PCT's are allowed to float as soon as they come off of orientation. I float to surgical units, oncology, and transplant so far. :)

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Hate floating! I work in a busy PICU, but occasionally we float to other units when our census is low. But our unit has a policy that if you don't call off for 6 months, you are exempt from floating for the next 6 months! LOVE this!! Great incentive to not call off for "just because"....:lol2:

That is awesome! I need to suggest it to administration!!!

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Tele, ER.

We don't have designated float nurses. Charge Nurses compare staff to patient ratios at bed meeting and offer-up staff if it's available. Except our ICU, which has a habit of calling people at home to warn them they'll be floated if they come in, so they can call in. (Whoops, off topic, LOL.) I have not been floated since I was a new grad, and usually I was the one that would be floated because I wouldn't make a big stink about it and throw a fit (and the charge nurses told me so). I think that's ridiculous, to float the least experienced person, just because others don't think they should have to float. Now that I have a little more experience, I've not even been asked to float.

For my money, I have to say I frequently enjoy my experience when I do float. Usually, we float people to the ED and the ICU. I really get anxious about floating, because of that "new kid syndrome" when you get there, but usually it ends-up being kind of fun.

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