HELP! Starting Critical Care Float Pool

[cdibley]

I am SO excited for this new opportunity and will be dealing with Neuro, Trauma, Burn, General, and Cardiac ICUs. I have experience with SICU, little MICU, and a lot of CVICU, but really want to know what I should study up on for Neuro, Trauma, and Burn? TIA!

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

As a float, you probably will not get the most complex patients in any of the ICUs, but will get a wide variety of "basic" patients of each discipline. Unless the CVICU was your unit in this hospital, in which case charge nurses will trust you more. You're already pretty well versed in CVICU, and the basics of hemodynamic monitoring, full assessments, etc. What kind of orientation are you getting to the other units?

I would probably study the CCRN questions for neuro, etc. The individual units may have some sort of "fast facts" put together for travelers, floats and new orientees. That will give you a place to get started. I know that a "neuro assessment" means something totally different to a neurosurgeon than it does to a cardiac surgeon . . . start there. When you're orienting to a specific unit, concentrate about what's different in that unit than what you're used to.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Moved to the Critical Care Nursing forum for more replies.