Getting floated

[Nurseinprocess]

I'm a new nurse who works on a unit where the census is a rollercoaster and our pt counts often drop below the scheduled staffing, so the nurses get pulled to other units that are short staffed pretty much daily. I am just getting comfortable with the patient population on my own unit (post surgical) and I'm intimidated about getting sent to a unit with more acute patients, like cardiac or neuro. How will I be able to handle people on Cardizem drips or with chest pains when all I know is handing out pain meds and changing dressings? Being pulled isn't selective to what nurse is available (as in nobody's going to care how green I am), it's what unit has a need. I am trying not to psych myself out about getting pulled, but it's stressing me out . I have been told that I wouldn't be given an inappropriate assignment by some people, but I've also been told that the floated nurse gets the worst assignment . The nurses on my unit make getting pulled seem like such a bad thing, it's hard to not feel negatively about it before I've even done it. Last night a coworker who was pulled to cardiac was telling me how her pt was having pains and she had to draw a troponin level, talk to the doctor several times, etc. and I was thinking how over my head that seemed . I need a little pep talk or some advice about how to handle my first venture off my unit, which will be coming up soon.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Do you have professional responsibility or assignment-under-protest forms in your facility? If you feel that you're being required to provide care to patients which is beyond your capacity, you should have some mechanism for documenting that and covering your behind.

[Nurseinprocess]

I don't know about protesting, I guess I am just worried about what may come up, which unit, what kind of pts will be put in my hands. I'm curious how other nurses handle being pulled, or how they treat nurses who are pulled to their units. I feel like I've been in a "bubble" on my unit and my generally "healthy" or stable pts haven't necessarily prepared me for what may come up during a float. I've only been a nurse for less than 5 months

[prudence09]

Most the the time where I work if it is a completely different unit like ICU you are there to help not take patients. You may help pass meds and things like that. Where I work our nurses from the floor I work on are the only nurses that really get pulled anywhere else and we also have no protest form you either do it or be fired. It's your choice. I would just learn that particular floors routine if you get pulled it may take 2 or 3 times but you'll get the hang of it.