I stood up for myself........kinda long....

[FreshRN05]

I'd like to get your opinion to what happened between me and our house supervisor last friday....Well, I was scheduled to work last friday but I was called in to be on call that day because our census in our unit is low and they don't need lots of RN's so they called me 2 hours before my shift and told me I'd be on call for 12 hours. So I said ok....2 hours later they called me and told me that an RN is sick and wanted me to work in replacement of her..So I thought I'd be working in my home unit ( I'm not in float pool and made it clear that I don't want to be when I was hired) then the staffing office said " No, you'll be working on a different floor"..then I said "wait a minute, why are you sending me to a different floor? I'm not a float pool RN?"..So in other words I declined it and that's when the house supervisor got on the phone with me insisting that I report to work and work at the unit they want me to...so I begun to argue with her insisting that I am not going to a floor that I did not apply for...so the HS went on and on telling me that it's in my contract that if I get put on call that I will be obligated to work wherever if the there is a need that day.... and if I decline she will write me up....So, I'm like what contract/policy???? She then said it's under the CNA's (bargaining unit) binding contract....Well, first of all I'm not even a member of the CNA yet and no one has mentioned to me about floating if the census is low and there is a need on other floors (med-surg/tele)...so she then said just come in to work and I'll show you the contract...so then I came to work and the HS was not there to talk to me and show me the contract then I was told that they "fixed" it...meaning they sent this travelling RN (who they assigned on my unit that day) to the floor they wanted me to work and assigned me back on my unit.....So then I proceeded to work in my home unit but no HS neither my director approached me and explain to me and show me what the contract was about...I was really upset that day especially the fact that the HS said she will write me up...For what???? So, before the day was over I decided to approach my Director and asked her...well, she said not to worry coz it has been fixed and I was not written up...but still I was confused and asked her to show me the CNA contract, so she showed me this little booklet from the CNA and there was a part there that talks about ON-CALL policy...but nowhere in the statement stating that if I get called in, the staffing office can make me work in any of the med surg/tele floors ( we have 4 med-surg/tele units in the hospital)...The my Director told me that we have a CORE measure in the hospital that Med-Surg RN's are obligated to float in any of the CORE measure unit within the hospital.....Has any of you been in this type of situation? By the way...I've only been working in the hospital for 2 months, new RN and only been off orientation 2 weeks ago...Don't you guys think it's not fair to float a brand new nurse? I stood up for myself ( which I normally don't do) because I don't want to jeopardize my license...What do you guys think?

[hrtprncss]

Sorry you had to go through this...I don't know what your contract says but the logical thing to do is go through a list of the people that need to float that's working in your unit on that particular day. Usually, some hospitals float the travel nurse all the time before the regular staff. Not fair either for the travel nurse, but a lot of times that's what happens. The only way I'd consider getting floated out of rotation is IF the shift has already started and my coworkers has started working already with their own patients. IF you still don't want to float and it's still not your turn, then you can send one of your staff nurses instead, but like I said this is frustrating if a nurse already started working with her own patients. Personally, it sucks to get floated, especially if you have been basically ''called off'', and you're hoping they won't call you in to work that day anymore.

[tmarie75]

[color=deepskyblue]if you're a new rn that's only been in the hospital for 2 months i would absolutely say no! to that, especially if the other unit expected you to take patients and not work as a task nurse. i was on the floor for six months before i got floated. floating you after 2 months is totally unacceptable and a risk to your license. you did right to stand up for yourself. bravo!!

[thumperRN]

Where I work, we can't be floated til we've worked on our home floor one year. After that, we rotate floats. We also keep a log in a notebook in the supervisors office and write in when we've floated - that way, everyone gets their turn in a fair manner. Two months at this place and already floating?? Hmmm, don't like the sound of that - you did the right thing - way to stand up for yourself. If you make yourself a doormat the first day, that is what you'll always be. Doesn't sound like anyone will be wiping their shoes on you. Great job!

[FreshRN05]

yeah...I was actually surprised when I hanged up the phone coz i don't normally speak up...but then again I felt a little scared specially when the HS menitoned writing me up...So when I report back to work on thursday, I will go and check my file just to make sure I was not really written up ( eventhough my Director said I wasn't).....Also I talked to the CNA today and they are doing a little investigation....coz I mentioned to them that I did not want to be floated ( I mentioned it to both my director and the human resources)....I'm even ready to go up to the higher command (Nursing Vice President) if it ever happen again....This is my license and I worked very hard to get it and I will not let them ruin just to fulfill their staffing needs.

[grinnurse, RN]

[color=deepskyblue]if you're a new rn that's only been in the hospital for 2 months i would absolutely say no! to that, especially if the other unit expected you to take patients and not work as a task nurse. i was on the floor for six months before i got floated. floating you after 2 months is totally unacceptable and a risk to your license. you did right to stand up for yourself. bravo!!

:yeahthat: