How does your unit determine who floats?

[BiscuitStripes]

I started on this unit first week of March. I got 4 weeks of orientation and because I was new they didn’t float me initially. They decided at my 3 month mark I was okay to float. 

So I got float yesterday and was told today I’m next to float again. I asked how I just floated yesterday. I was told it goes off float hours for the year and I now only have 12, thus am the lowest. So basically I’m going to continue to float until I effectively make up 6 months worth of floating when I didn’t even work here or was eligible to float. 

Every other hospital I’ve known goes off who hasn’t floated in the longest. How does your hospital do it?

[BagelBomber, ASN, BSN, RN]

We have a "float tracker" sheet in the charge RN binder. We list the dates we're pulled and to which unit. You're up to float if everyone else on the schedule has floated more recently than you. You have the option to volunteer to be pulled (I for example, agreed to back to our COVID unit so I could keep my patients). There are some restrictions to who can float- you can't be pulled to ICU if you're not cross-trained, for example. We also don't float pregnant nurses or those with immunocompromised family members to the COVID unit. The system you guys use seems to be a tad unorthodox. 

[SmilingBluEyes]

When I worked in the hospital, I worked L/D and mother-baby units.

At one hospital where I worked, it was written down who floated where and for how many hours and tracked. The one with the fewest float hours was up next. This was a non-union hospital. "perdiems" were not picked on all the time and this was good because we tended to keep them around.

In other hospitals, I worked in "closed" units. We did not float nor did anyone float to us. But we had a nurse on call who could be brought in in case all heck broke loose. It was a union shop.

[BiscuitStripes, BSN, RN]

14 hours ago, NurseBlaq said:

They're taking advantage of you. Ask to see the written policy that says that. If they can't provide it, call HR and ask them for the float policy. No one will be able to provide it to you because it doesn't exist. They'll continue to do it as long as you allow them to do it unchecked. Put an end to it now or just get comfortable floating.

I emailed my manager, who said she would look into it.  

7 minutes ago, SmilingBluEyes said:

When I worked in the hospital, I worked L/D and mother-baby units.

At one hospital where I worked, it was written down who floated where and for how many hours and tracked. The one with the fewest float hours was up next. This was a non-union hospital. "perdiems" were not picked on all the time and this was good because we tended to keep them around.

In other hospitals, I worked in "closed" units. We did not float nor did anyone float to us. But we had a nurse on call who could be brought in in case all heck broke loose. It was a union shop.

So that sounds pretty much like how we do it. Although we don't have any closed units, I've heard of people being floated to L&D with no training to be a "nurse helper", not entirely sure what that entails. 

On 6/6/2021 at 1:53 PM, londonflo said:

Are you able to volunteer if the float is to an area you like/know? I always volunteered if I figured I could do okay in the area, to avoid having to go to some areas I disliked. Plus I learned to know some staff on that floor so it was more enjoyable,

Not that I'm aware of. 

[SmilingBluEyes]

"So that sounds pretty much like how we do it. Although we don't have any closed units, I've heard of people being floated to L&D with no training to be a "nurse helper", not entirely sure what that entails. "

 

Usually if anyone floated to us, they took vital signs on stable mothers. They rarely did anything with newborns. No one did any care of laboring moms. We would have the floating nurse take vital signs/medicate for pain, do peri care etc of post partum moms and the nurses in L/D, mother-baby did all vital signs and newborn cares.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

On 6/6/2021 at 12:06 PM, BiscuitStripes said:

I started on this unit first week of March. I got 4 weeks of orientation and because I was new they didn’t float me initially. They decided at my 3 month mark I was okay to float. 

So I got float yesterday and was told today I’m next to float again. I asked how I just floated yesterday. I was told it goes off float hours for the year and I now only have 12, thus am the lowest. So basically I’m going to continue to float until I effectively make up 6 months worth of floating when I didn’t even work here or was eligible to float. 

Every other hospital I’ve known goes off who hasn’t floated in the longest. How does your hospital do it?

Are you in Boston perchance?  When I worked in Boston, the charge nurse from the previous shift picked someone who wasn’t one of her friends to float.  I floated a lot until I complained and insisted upon taking turns.  Of course that didn’t make me any MORE popular.

When I worked in Spokane, we did it the same way your floor does it.  Except if you worked OT, you got points for floating.  So the nurse that worked a ton of OT to pay off her loans never floated . . . And the nurses who got called in because the unit was desperately short DID float.  That one got addressed, too.  If you were called in and asked to do OT, you got float points.  If you volunteered for the OT you didn’t.  

Most places take turns.  Those with the most ancient float date are the next to float.  Unless the charge nurse is a new grad just off orientation and doesn’t know about the float list, then whoever he likes the least is the next to float.  

[TKL]

The first unit I worked for used the I've been here for x number of years approach, not approved by management or the nursing office, but oh well. When I went from FT to casual status, I also tended to be pulled every time I was working; it kind of felt like I didn't have a home unit... I was in all ICU's, PCU and sometimes med/surg; it gave me a lot of experience. 

The unit I work for now uses a binder, we all take turns. No one likes to be pulled so it helps to keep things fair. I tend to volunteer to float, if it is to a unit I'm comfortable with-I'm able to bump myself on the list easily with this approach. 

I'm also of the mindset that a nurse who is new to the floor needs time to stabilize and become comfortable. It seems a bit unfair to ask a new employee to float so quickly but such are the ways of each unit's expectations. 

[Mavnurse17, BSN, RN]

This is bizarre to me.  On the unit I worked on, everyone took turns floating based on when they floated last.  So say you float one shift, you don't get floated again until everyone else has floated.  New grads didn't float until after 6 months of independent practice.  

[Lovethenurse2b25, ASN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

My hospital use to say nurses couldn’t float until after a year of employment. But since covid everyone floats and its based on who last floated. 

[Mini2544, ASN, RN]

My former unit really had no rhyme or reason for who floated but it was disorganized and awful. I was pool and actually our hospital guidelines were that pool employees were cancelled first (if the census was low) so we weren’t supposed to float since we aren’t guaranteed hours and full time had requirements to fill for benefits. I still got floated though. All the time. So I left LOL 

[she244]

When I worked at a large Hospital on the Neuro-Surgical Floor.  We had a book that all Nurses names in our unit were placed in.  They went by the list and you may be next on the list.  We took turns Floating unless someone else wanted to Float at that time.  It worked out well for all of us. 

 

 

 

[amoLucia]

Do you have to xxx-foot around Union contract rules?

[MaryB7, BSN]

I was permanent staff at a hospital in Texas for many years. I was floated the entire Spring of 2014. I took it as a hint. I left and started travel nursing. Now it is seven years later. I contracted COVID and was out for a month. The malaise and weakness I have experienced following COVID were intense. I was out a total of three months. After being off work, travel agencies did not want to work with me. I interviewed at several hospitals and kept getting passed over. In 2 of those cases I discovered that managers had hired young nurses with no experience right out of college. I have a total of 10 years of cardiac and Neuro-trauma experience, working in multiple hospitals across the country and new grads were deemed more qualified than me. I took that as a hint as well. My message to you is, you may not be able to or want to fight the system where you are at. You may be deemed as difficult to work with for questioning their system. After being denied employment, I returned to school to obtain my Masters degree. That is my current occupation. I saved my money while traveling. Looking back now, my advice to you is to determine if you can be happy on one of the units that is constantly short. Make friends with the nurse manager there. Transfer there. They may have a strange float policy, they may be taking advantage of you. If they are allowed to take advantage of you, do you really want to be there? If this is a strange float policy and for some reason you feel the specialty on this unit is where you were meant to be, stick it out. Otherwise, get out of there and go someplace where you will be happy.