How far can hospital go?

[RNTX31]

Hi all! I work on a Postpartum floor that shares the unit with Pediatrics. We share nothing with each other, except being geographically close. Recently our Unit Director made the sudden decision to make Postpartum cross train to Pediatrics and they will have to cross train to Postpartum. The reasoning for this was supposedly “to be fair when it came to taking turns in being put on call/floating and backing each other up”. (I’m sure it has more to do with saving money by making us work both areas, therefore needing less staff). Several of us are unhappy about this, having zero desire in becoming a Pediatric or Postpartum nurse, as it applies. They are completely different fields from each other!
My question is, can they do this? How can it be mandatory to learn a field I was not hired to do and have no interest in learning?? Can I fight it?
Thanks for any advice/insight.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

I have an even weirder combination for you. My Mom worked at a local hospital that decided it would be a good idea to cross train neuro and ped's because they were next to each other. Several nurses on both units transferred out or plain quit when the hospital refused to back down.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

On 6/7/2020 at 5:20 AM, EDNURSE20 said:

I don’t get what the big deal is.

Occassionly floating to peds can’t be that bad!! It not like they making you suddenly work on a rehab floor. It’s An opportunity to learn something new. And you will still be a postpartum nurse!

Normally I would agree with you on this. But there is a big difference in adult world and pediatric world, med calculation and dosing, vitals, compensation, etc, so it becomes a safety issue.

[Leader25, ASN, BSN, RN]

On 6/6/2020 at 8:36 PM, RNTX31 said:

My question is, can they do this? How can it be mandatory to learn a field I was not hired to do and have no interest in learning?? Can I fight it?
Thanks for any advice/insight.

They can do it unless your union contract says crosstraing is Voluntary-,

Instead of just floating and doing safe basic care and keeping their trap shut , many nurses whine to mgmt that they were never trained for that floor--so now they are going to"train" you.

You will not win that one,I am sure they already got the Awhon manual and figured out getting two for the price of one.

Sorry this is happening to you, but be nice to the ones that float to you and hpefully they won't abuse you when you float to their area.Most people forget what they learned in new unit crosstraining anyway by the time they are floated again.It never really works and only hurts the poor patients,spreads RSV in Winter and so on.

26 minutes ago, JadedCPN said:

Normally I would agree with you on this. But there is a big difference in adult world and pediatric world, med calculation and dosing, vitals, compensation, etc, so it becomes a safety issue.

AGREE 100%

[Leader25, ASN, BSN, RN]

4 hours ago, kbrn2002 said:

Several nurses on both units transferred out or plain quit when the hospital refused to back down.

Definately a good option to preserve your health and sanity we sometimes must take drastic measures.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

when I started my job, our "sister" unit was a uro/gyn/plastics/ENT unit. We were cross-trained so that we could float back and forth (I am on an ortho floor, joints, no spine). It was really weird and I am not sure why other than, like others, we were geographically on the same floor, different wings. I ended up staying on the sister unit for 2 months because they had high turnover.

After some restructuring, we are now part of the neuro/spine surgical care division, which makes much more sense.

We float anywhere in the hospital. Except peds, ICU and ED. Peds nurses can float to other units as long as the pts are under 35. Cardiothoracic has like 5-6 different units so they can cross-cover.

Look at this as an opportunity, as others have said, to learn new things!

[RNTX31]

On 6/6/2020 at 7:49 PM, Sour Lemon said:

Yes, they can do it and it's extremely common. You can "fight it" by finding a position that does not require you to float, but that's about the only way.

I understand what you’re saying. However, to clarify.....it’s not a “float” between these two departments and they are not counting it as such. They are mandating we learn both departments and basically combining the two. I think it’s a bad decision for several reasons, but mainly because the two fields are so very different. Peds is a whole different ballgame from anything else. It’s two very different specialties. Thanks for your input!

[RNTX31]

11 hours ago, kbrn2002 said:

I have an even weirder combination for you. My Mom worked at a local hospital that decided it would be a good idea to cross train neuro and ped's because they were next to each other. Several nurses on both units transferred out or plain quit when the hospital refused to back down.

WOW!! That is a weird combo!

7 hours ago, JadedCPN said:

Normally I would agree with you on this. But there is a big difference in adult world and pediatric world, med calculation and dosing, vitals, compensation, etc, so it becomes a safety issue.

Agree 100%!

[RNTX31]

7 hours ago, Leader25 said:

Definately a good option to preserve your health and sanity we sometimes must take drastic measures.

Absolutely! Couldn’t agree more!

[Sour Lemon]

2 hours ago, RNTX31 said:

I understand what you’re saying. However, to clarify.....it’s not a “float” between these two departments and they are not counting it as such. They are mandating we learn both departments and basically combining the two. I think it’s a bad decision for several reasons, but mainly because the two fields are so very different. Peds is a whole different ballgame from anything else. It’s two very different specialties. Thanks for your input!

"Cross train" might have been a better term.

[LovingPeds, MSN, APRN, NP]

The hospital I used to work at mandated cross training to other "sister units". As peds, our sister units were nursery and NICU. Post-partum was a sister unit to L&D. Occasionally some in PP would float to nursery. If we floated to PP or PP floated to peds, they did so as a "helping hand" and functioned like a tech because the specialties are very different. It's not that either of us couldn't take care of the other's patients. We all start out as nurse generalists, but we are more likely to miss the subtle changes that someone with more experience in that area might pick up on. It was a safety issue.

I have seen other hospitals combine pediatrics with other units. Some times general adult med-surg. Other times, other specialties like PP. In my experience with these hospitals, I always felt that the children didn't get the care that they would with someone who primarily did pediatrics. It was nothing against the nurses who worked there, but a lot of people are not comfortable working with children and some times that shows.

There is likely little recourse for you in this. As others have stated, most contacts are worded so that the hospital can float you and move you as desired. Your options are either to learn what you can about the other specialty whose experience may help you in the future or to find another position.

While not wanting to work peds is understandable, you might find the experience valuable. Because of my peds background, I always felt capable of taking care of an adult patient even if I wasn't comfortable with it. (Adults aren't as cuddly.) Mostly because pediatric patients often have the same conditions that adults do: pneumonia, sepsis, abscesses, surgical procedures, dehydration, gastroenteritis, and even strokes. My suggestion is if you do this to refresh yourself on the general knowledge and then practice pediatric med calculations and look over developmental milestones. That will pretty much have you set to start out.

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

It conveys a lack of respect when employers treat nurses like movable widgets. If you want to make employees feel powerless, this is how to do it.

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

I used to work for a very large and well known hospital system. My friend from nursing school still works at this place. He had enough when the administrators started using them as float pool to float to other areas of main campus (which never happened before) and to regional hospitals as well. So, he is leaving bedside and trying to get into the EP lab. However, the manager said she may not be able to hire as many nurses as she thought because they may use general anesthesia for all cases. It's just the hospital trying to screw over their employees even more. This hospital also has a solid reputation for not valuing their workers and treating them as a number.

I get having to float but cross training is just the hospital's way of being cheap and not hiring adequate staff, further showing all they care about is money.