Super pool

[KBCRNBSN]

At our facility we currently have an in house pool, but pool staff are assigned to specific units. However, they are pulled to different units that they are competent to work, as needed.

I am working on a project to revise our inhouse pool staff program. I am considering a regular pool and a superpool (ie. those nurses that only can work med-surg get paid a lower hourly pool rate, than those nurses that are competent to work on med-surg and critical care).

I would appreciate feedback from any of you that have experience in this area.

[saphie]

I do not have any experience with organizing that sort of thing but... my thoughts are... why should a nurse be penalized for not being able to work in critical care. There are some nurses that not comfortable working in that area but are wonderful med-surg nurses. Personally I work on a medical floor and am hoping to soon to get a job in ICU. Most of the nurses I work with are wonderful medical nurses but have no desire to work in critical care. What if instead of pay difference having a scholarship program in place for those nurses that want to work critical care to take extra courses to become more compentent in working in that area.

[hollykate]

I agree with Saphie. Seems that giving those in the pool with critical care experience more pay, even when they are not in the ICU would give a med-surg RN who doesn't want to do ICU a good incentive to do float pool at another facility.

[KBCRNBSN]

Thanks for your feedback. Critical care was just an example. The goal is to have different levels of pool employees: those that can function in limited areas, and those with expanded expertise that can function in multiple areas. I will look forward to your further input.

[oramar]

I belonged to two super pools in my time, one at the end of the 80s and one in the early 90s. They did not use the name super pool but they were patterned along the same basic lines as a super pool, each facility had their own name and their own rules. The one that let the nurses in the pool pick four units out of all the units avaliable and never asked or forced them to work anywhere else had the best system. The one that I did not like, made the nurse float the whole hospital which had at around 30 units. Once I came in and they tried to make me work pediatric intensive care and another time they tried to make me work neuro ICU. They well aware that I had no back ground in either field. Each time I raised a fuss and they let me off. I then quit. Alas the job crunch came and those jobs dried up. It was nice money.

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