How soon after becoming a nurse is too soon to get pulled to another floor? Is there a timeframe your unit goes by, or is it based on the maturity of the individual nurse?
I've been off orientation a month and have been struggling with the transition. My manager asked me if it would freak me out to get pulled for four hours yesterday. I said it would, she said based on staffing I was the person that made sense to go, but someone else would go in my place and left it at that. Well, that someone else kept asking me if I would rather go. I do not think that nurse was deliberately pressuring me; on top of it, it didn't seem right to me that she should have to lose the patients she had for 8 hrs to get a new assignment on a different floor for her last 4. I opted to go, because I was floating (no patient assignment), heard it was an easier unit, and I figured I can do anything for 4 hours. My brief shift up there was fine, but the nurses could not believe I would get pulled after only a month on my own. They said their rule is 6 months off orientation. Then, this morning, I got a text from my friend who started on my floor the same time as me. She got pulled today too, and they used the explanation that since I got pulled yesterday, they figured she was fair game. She thought it was too soon for her to get pulled as well, but went anyway.
I'm going to email my manager and my clin spec about it, but I wasn't sure if this was the norm on other floors. Are we spoiled to think that we should have a couple more months before getting pulled, or is it commonplace to give that leeway to new grads?
Thanks for the insight in advance. And Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!
About 3 months after starting the job. I have been pulled to ICU and pospartum. I actually prefer these floors to my own (medsurg) and get excited when I get to float, lol.
I had to float on my 2nd week off orientation. I work on a medsurg floor and was floated to another medusrg floor so acuity was the same. I voiced my discomfort but was told that they keep record of when each person floated and it was my turn according to the rotation. I had assumed I wouldn't join the rotation for a while but it happened anyways. It actually wasn't bad since it was a very similar unit to my own in terms of acuity and assignment; and I got to meet some really cool people that I got along with much better than my own unit's staff.
Just a couple of points. If OP 'volunteered' to float I am sure that this was very much appreciated by her co-workers & this type of gesture will go a looooong way to becoming "one of the team" rather than an outsider/newbie. Most 'rules' should be broken when they just don't make sense. In this case, the nurse without a firm assignment would be the logical person to float - causing much less disruption to patient care. Second point.. my background is critical care so I have dealt with many tearful, frightened nurses who were (unwillingly) floated into that environment. But float nurses were never expected to function as an ICU nurse. Instead, the staffing model was adjusted & they were paired with someone who did all the "ICU" stuff for a larger assignment, and the float nurse did "nurse" stuff that was well within his/her scope of expertise. Most of the time, it ended up as a positive experience for both. Flexibility and the ability to adapt to new/different situations is a key ingredient of stress management. Be careful - choose carefully before taking a rigid stance on anything. Make sure it's really a "hill that's worth dying on" before you make that move.[/quote']
Scarlettz, BSN, RN
258 Posts
About 3 months after starting the job. I have been pulled to ICU and pospartum. I actually prefer these floors to my own (medsurg) and get excited when I get to float, lol.