Float nurses??

[WildOne]

I everyone

I'm a new grad and a float nurse for a very large hospital. I float to a bunch of medical floors from cardiology to rehab. For the past 5 months I've been working with another nurse and I've only been to about 6 floors.

I will be starting alone this week and basically im on a different floor for every shift which means I don't know where anything is and the staff is unfamiliar to me

Does anyone have any tips for a position like this? I've already gotten advice such a just being upbeat and having a good attitude to being very careful/watchful all the time

Thanks

[NBMom1225]

If you're on an unfamiliar unit, ask the charge nurse (or anyone) if they could please quickly show you where the clean utility/med room/soiled utility/unit kitchen are all located, and the key codes (if the facility doesn't have a swipe system). I am always grateful to have a float RN and try to show my appreciation by helping them out, taking care of 8 patients because we're short staffed is the alternative!

[RNperdiem, RN]

I agree with the above poster. Get to work early enough so you can take a quick tour around the floor.

What helps me is to communicate well with the charge nurse.

If you are falling behind, and unsure about a procedure find the charge nurse and ask for help. Unless you tell them what you need, you might founder all shift; they cannot read your mind.

If you know where you are floating the next shift, you can always do some searching on the computer. For example on my large hospital's nursing intranet, I can take a look at unit specific procedure manuals, lists of doctors(pictures make it helpful to recognise the docs you will be interacting with).

Practice remembering names, and you will know more people in the hospital by name than anyone!