floating between departments ie med/surg to nicu

BrnEyedGirl, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN · May 16, 2009

We have float clusters,...NICU and med/surge are NOT in the same cluster! I agree with you,...as an ER nurse I wouldn't be comfortable in NICU! A nurse is a nurse,..as a new grad! We can all go on to learn whatever specialty we want,......perhaps they should put you with a preceptor when you float! :)

mcl10109 · May 16, 2009

see now that's the thing I have precepted for that floor like three years ago and I go there sporificely like every 5 or 6 months maybe 1 2 or 3 days and that's it, I would really rather not go back but I keep getting told that when the Adult units need me I "have to" go back because I have been trained. I understand that but the pace is too fast for me and I'm not a regular and still am expected to perform like a regular on that floor "ugh"

Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN · May 16, 2009

Our float policy (which is seldom used - we don't float much) is that float nurses don't take assingments. They help out as necessary. Perhaps you can suggest that next time you are float. Say you don't want an assingement but will help out where-ever necessary. So you may do a drsg here, an admission there, and so forth. The nurses on the floor get help, but you don't feel overwhelmed.

MichelleB34 · May 16, 2009

I can relate to your dilemma. After 11 1/2 years of med-surg I switched to maternity in August of 2008. Several times in the first 2 to 3 months I was mandated to float to my old floor because I could take an assignment. The more time that passes the harder it is to go down and pick up a full assignment. I can do it but it's harder because I am out of the routine. I don't think a nurse is a nurse. I think when nurses are expected to take an assignment on another unit it should be in a related specialty and maybe the assignment should be a little easier because it's not your floor. I have not always felt this way but I think switching to a different area of nursing has given me a new perspective. As someone else suggested maybe you could work as helping hands when you float to that floor. I have done this the last couple of times I floated and it has made it easier. Good luck.

mcl10109 · May 16, 2009

I could try to offer this up but unfortunately they staff with me included in their numbers, I'm now trying to learn mom baby but at least it's not a far cry from my main floor, where I want to be. I beat myself up after the last horrible day I had and have tried to think up how else I could have handled it, I have come up nothing short of just realizing I am a good nurse and it's a far stretch to be going to all those different units and still be expected to be able to take on med/surg patients. I'm going to try to say NO when asked to float there, of course I feel I don't have any choice in the matter and have been told so many times.

Thank you very much for all your suggestions and well wishes :loveya:

Riseupandnurse · May 16, 2009

A nurse is a nurse. So is a doctor a doctor? Or an administrator an administrator? My husband was the head of lab services and he said he got tired of hearing how a med-surg nurse shouldn't be floated to the nursery or ICU with no training. So one day the phone rang early one morning and I told him it was the hospital CEO saying the head pharmacist and his assistant were both out sick and he had to run the pharmacy for a couple of days. Well, I lied just to see him turn white. Priceless.

DNRNEURO · May 16, 2009

I feel your pain. I work at Neuro ICU and when our census are low they float us to MICU, CCU, and SICU. I just hate it. It is overwhelming because I am not used to many drains and procedures. I am also a new grad and when I get floated I spend the whole shift very nervous. Managament can care less about it. My sugestion is to get some experience and move on to another institution, this is because most hospitals have the policy that if you were trainned to work a specific place you can always be floated there... I am sorry !!! Many people don't get it that if you have a specific trainning you should stick with the area you were trainned for! OBGY doctors do NOT operate brain turmors !!!! Bad managers are bad managers!!!!

cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP · May 16, 2009

If you feel like you are not able to safely practice as a med/surg nurse because your specialty is NICU then you need to say that to management and tell them that you will not be floated to med/surg. floors because you do not feel safe to practice in that capacity. If you feel confident being floated to X, Y and Z floors but not where they are sending you then you need to express that too them because you can bet that if a mistake happens it will be your license on the line and they will put the full blame on you. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

!Chris :specs:

twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN · May 16, 2009

I would be worried about taking care of people with infections of any type and then working with the nicu babies. Yikes! :twocents:

Ahhphoey · May 16, 2009

Floating can be hard regardless of the unit because you are placed in an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar nurses and routines. NICU is definitely a far cry from Med-Surg and seeing as you don't regularly work med-surg, you should not be expected to take a full assignment. At one hospital I used to work at in ICU, we could float to any of the other floors (there was no peds or L&D), but could only take 4 patients. The hospital I am at now has ICU nurses float to either the other ICU or step-down only, though occasionally to ER and PACU but only to task or to care for ICU overflow patients that may be waiting there for a room. You just have to speak up for yourself and don't take on something you can't handle because in the end, it's your license on the line.

coffee4metech · May 16, 2009

Use this situation to become more well rounded and take everything in stride, develop your skills in both departments and use it to your advantage. I would love to have a change of scenery every once in a while. And don't complain to management about it because they will probably take action against you so be careful and be greatful you have a job .