Staffing question???

Nurses General Nursing

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Our hospital has been shorting us. Our unit has a lot of staff....but the other units don't so even though we have the staff we're always working "short".

One thing they do is at 20 to 3 P.M. staffing will call and ask our matrix. At that time they'll calculate how much staff we'll need. They look at how many patients we HAVE and how many patients will be LEAVING on the shift. But come between 3:05 P.M. and 3:30 P.M. they'll load us up with 5-6 new admissions. Last time I worked we were short 4 hours by a R.N. and aide. They sent one of our R.N.'s to our "sister" unit CICU, and left us short. Our supervisor works the CICU and the step-down unit and occasionally makes us work "short" to cover CICU.

I feel if I want a job in CICU I'd sign up to that floor. But that unit can't keep staff, so even though I'm interested in working a intensive unit floor....it won't be that one!!!!!!!!!

I'm curious how does your unit staff you? Also when you get pulled to other unit....what kind of orientation do you get???

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At my current hospital, the Maternal Child floor is a closed unit. We only float between L&D, PP, peds, and NICU. We take pt assignments, but since I am "L&D" I can get called back at any time. As for orientation, during my hospital orientation, I floated a day to each floor to orient. The NICU nurses are especially helpful and only give me growers and feeders.

I have worked (and left) a hospital that would float me where ever they needed a body (ICU, ER, etc.) No orientation to even where the ice machine was! UNSAFE. I do not feel you can treat a nurse as just any old nurse. We all have special training in the areas we work. It is insulting to us, and the units we float to help, to insinuate that the training really means nothing and any old monkey can do the job.

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Unfortunately I am the one who pulls from this unit to cover another unit that is 'short'. I hate to have to do this, but all of the units need coverage. My staff gets upset because they never have their full allotment of co-workers even though they have more staff than any other unit-according to the schedule. But one thing that I point out to them that everyone SHOULD know is "you work for (insert Facility name) not for the CICU. Sorry, if it's not what you wanted to hear, but it is a sore spot with me, as all of my 300 residents need help, not just one or two units!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.

Are you sure we don't work at the same hospital? They've been doing this to our unit a lot lately. In fact, we've been joking that we are really the float pool because we have been staffing the entire hospital yet we never have the staff we need when we're short. In fact, one day last week they pulled from our unit to cover another floor and our charge nurse had to take patients! But not on the unit that was "covered". Unbelievable.

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"you work for (insert Facility name) not for the CICU. Sorry, if it's not what you wanted to hear, but it is a sore spot with me, as all of my 300 residents need help, not just one or two units!

While I agree that "ultimately"we all works for "X" facility, there is way too much of this staff pulling Sheila. It's nice that you hate doing it though. So are you floating ICU nurses into the NICU? How about Med-Surg nurses into L&D? Probably not. If yes, then you better talk to Risk management quick. Also, do you belive a nurse is a nurse is a nurse? Why bother specializing and certifying if we are all interchangable?

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Sharann; No Hospital work for me! Yall work way too hard! I work in a large LTC facility. but it does seem that we have a lot of the same issues. I did work an oncology unit when I first got my RN so I know a little about you "Real Nurses" and I do agree that a L&D nurse should not be pulled to an ICU etc.. I was just trying to make a point, that no one likes to pull you anymore than you like to be pulled, but there are patients that need to be taken care of and that is (in my opinion) why I became a Nurse! :)

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I work once a week. I was hired to a cardiac step-down unit. I am pulled nearly EVERY week for 4-8 hours. Keep in mind, I'm contigent and work ONCE a week.

I have contemplated working in the "pool" since I'm getting "pulled" everytime I work....and I would hopefully get an ORIENTATION. I have no orientation to these floors and the condition's on these floor a terrible.

I can totally understand "pulling" a nurse from one unit to another. But there's needs to be orientation to the units. Also, I get pulled to these units that have only 1-2 nurses working. (the rest are pool nurses or nurses pulled) No one know's what their doing. We all charge up to this one "regular" nurse asking questions....where's this...what's your protocol for this and that....how do you use this machine? The one "regular" nurse is usually a fresh graduate nurse just of orientation looking for a new job.

Nurse retention really needs to be looked at. Problem solving needs to be done TOGETHER with supervision and staff. We all want what's best for the patient.

I found a new job. One of the many units I got "pulled" to. This unit I enjoyed working on, so I'm checking out and seeing if they "need" me.

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